Speak

Bibliography

Anderson, Laurie Halse. Speak. 1999. New York, NY: The Penguin Group ISBN 0-14-240732-1

Critical Analysis

Freshman year is hard enough without starting the year out with the stigma of being the girl who called the cops on the high school party during the summer but this is how the year starts for the main character of Speak, Melinda. If anyone doesn’t know about that then they can just remember her as “that girl who got nailed by potatoes the first day” of high school. As the reader delves deeper into the book, Melinda’s story slowly unfolds.

Hers is not the story of normal teenage angst, but that of a girl who has suffered in silence for what really happened that fateful night at the party. Though the subject of the book is heavy, it is easy to read because of the short chapters, concise, first person narrative and dialog that reads more like a play than a novel. Fourteen is a difficult age to emulate the voice of but Anderson does so successfully without having Melinda seem to mature or immature for her age, making Speak an enjoyable read for both young adults and adults.

The classic high school happenings are present in the book- the events, teachers and token stereotypes that appear in all high school literature in movies, only because they are so true. The presence of these characters in Speak are what make it just as relevant in 2011 as it was in 1999 when it was written. The erratic art teacher, Mr. Freeman plays an important role in helping Melinda to express herself with her art topic for the year- trees. Of course, there is the group of mean girls- old friends turned enemies- who make Melinda’s high school life miserable and helping her remember just what an outcast she is by blatant meanness like mouthing “I hate you” when she passes by. Even Melinda’s parents don’t understand her behavior resulting in a frustrating and unhappy life at both school and home. And who could forget “the” guy that all the girls have a crush on- the one that Melinda refers to less than lovingly as “IT?” These characters all shape the Melinda’s character and effect her actions, leading to a sense of frustration on the part of the reader who wants Melinda to find the courage to stand up for herself. Due to mature subject matter, Speak is appropriate for grades 8 and up and will most likely appeal to female readers.

Book Discussion Ideas

Host a mid-book discussion at the library. Have readers discuss what has happened so far and make conjectures about how the book will end. Have them explain why and what evidence the text provides for that conclusion. Host another book discussion after reading the book in its entirety and compare the author’s ending to how the readers thought it was going to end. What did they like about the author’s ending? What would they have changed? Looking back, where there clues that hinted how the author was going to end it?

External Assessment

"In a stunning first novel, Anderson uses keen observations and vivid imagery to pull readers into the head of an isolated teenager. Divided into the four marking periods of an academic year, the novel, narrated by Melinda Sordino, begins on her first day as a high school freshman. No one will sit with Melinda on the bus. At school, students call her names and harass her; her best friends from junior high scatter to different cliques and abandon her. Yet Anderson infuses the narrative with a wit that sustains the heroine through her pain and holds readers' empathy. A girl at a school pep rally offers an explanation of the heroine's pariah status when she confronts Melinda about calling the police at a summer party, resulting in several arrests. But readers do not learn why Melinda made the call until much later: a popular senior raped her that night and, because of her trauma, she barely speaks at all. Only through her work in art class, and with the support of a compassionate teacher there, does she begin to reach out to others and eventually find her voice. Through the first-person narration, the author makes Melinda's pain palpable: "I stand in the center aisle of the auditorium, a wounded zebra in a National Geographic special." Though the symbolism is sometimes heavy-handed, it is effective. The ending, in which her attacker comes after her once more, is the only part of the plot that feels forced. But the book's overall gritty realism and Melinda's hard-won metamorphosis will leave readers touched and inspired."- Reed Business Information, Inc.

"A ninth grader becomes a social pariah when she calls the police to bust a summer bash and spends the year coming to terms with the secret fact that she was raped during the party. A story told with acute insight, acid wit, and affecting prose."- Reed Business Information, Inc.