Speak

//Speak//, Laurie Halse Anderson, Penguin, 1999, 198 pages.


 * Synopsis:** The summer before ninth grade, Melinda Sordino called the cops at a party, and now her friends from middle school, including her former best friend Rachel, won’t talk to her. She makes friends with Heather, a new girl from Ohio, but Heather is more interested in becoming one of “the Marthas.” So when Melinda becomes a hindrance rather than a help to Heather in that pursuit, Heather ditches her. Meanwhile Melinda struggles to express herself in art class, cuts class to hang out in an abandoned janitor’s closet, and speaks as rarely as possible, causing her parents, teachers, and even her supportive lab partner, David Petrakis, to worry about her. Eventually we find out why Melinda called the cops at the party and why she is becoming more and more withdrawn—she was raped by senior Andy Evans. When Melinda learns that Rachel is dating Andy, she finally gets the courage to speak about what happened.

Speak is appealingly organized into four parts, one for each marking period, each ending with “MY REPORT CARD.” Each “marking period” is divided into smaller sections, which have interesting, funny, and often punny titles such as “Home. Work.” and “Fizz Ed.” Melinda also has witty names for her teachers, such as Mr. Neck, Principal Principal, and Hairwoman, and includes tid bits from high school life, such as “the lies they tell you.” The only aspect of the novel that feels a bit heavy handed is Melinda’s year-long art assignment to express herself through a tree, which of course becomes a symbol of her dormancy and eventual blooming.
 * Evaluation:** The novel is very effectively written in the voice of the protagonist who, ironically, refuses speak. The interior monologue flows comfortably from reflective summary of events to running commentary that includes dialogue in which Melinda’s side of the conversation often looks like this: Me: Melinda is honest, awkward, and clever—a heroine readers can easily empathize with and relate to. Her struggles with her body, parents, school, and friends are bound to strike a chord with the adolescent reader. But it is the mystery of what happened at that party and Melinda’s voice, her personality, that keep us reading.


 * Author’s view of adolescents and society:** Anderson presents Melinda as a smart, complex, independent person struggling with issues that are largely invisible to the adults in her life. The parents, teachers, and guidance counselors in this novel worry about her symptoms of withdrawl, cutting class, and making poor grades. But when they try feebly and sporadically to help Melinda, their parent-teacher conferences and school suspension policies are further obstacles to the heroine who can only save herself.


 * Recommendation:** Adolescents, especially girls, would definitely be interested in reading this book. It would be appropriate for self-selected reading as part of a class room library or even as a choice for literature circles. Excerpts could also be used with the whole class as a read aloud or for model texts when studying voice or figurative language.