Speak

Anderson, L. (1999). Speak. New York, NY: Square Fish

Melinda Sordino is a freshman in high school who will not speak up.  She will not speak about what happened to her this past summer at a back-to-school party, and why she called the cops that resulted in multiply arrests, and an entire school angry with her.  Not only is she the outcast, she is also silenced by her traumatic experience which readers find out later.  Melinda begins to ditch class, close herself off from her family, fail assignments, and even creates her own refuge in an abandoned janitor closet in school.  The only person who will speak to Melinda is Heather, a transfer student who knows nothing of the party before school.  Heather is obsessed with fitting in, and eventually dumps Melinda to join a much cooler clique.  This is rock bottom for Melinda.  She begins to cut herself and inflict pain upon herself.  The only peace Melinda may find is in art class, where she is challenged to search for her soul and begins to face what actually happened that night at the party.  Melinda had too much to drink and was raped by an upperclassman.  Melinda refers to him as “IT”.  “IT” is now dating one of Melinda’s lost friends.  Melinda begins to find her voice when she decides to warn her former friend of her attacker.  This interaction did not go as readers would have hoped.  Melinda must have said enough because her friend does eventually break up with “IT”, but then he comes looking for Melinda.  Melinda is no longer silent and fights back, resulting in the entire school cheering her on for standing up.  The reality of this novel is very shocking.  Looking through the window of a rape victim, the outcast life, and the frustrations of not being able to speak up stuns readers to the core.  I am always amazed at how teachers play an important role in young people’s lives.  Thank goodness for the art teacher who encouraged and connected with Melinda and challenged her to find her soul through creative arts.  This novel will require much discussion about serious issues and opens the door for awareness.  Speak inspired Anderson to expand in multiple formats.  It was recreated in a graphic novel format and catapulted Anderson’s desire to speak out on issues with her novel in verse Shout.  These two novels would be a great addition to a study on Speak.