Speak

Despite high school freshman Melinda’s refusal to speak, I was immediately drawn into this contemporary (1999) novel by the pitch-perfect, first-person voice in which she tells her poignant story.

Melinda isn’t abandoned on a desolate island like Karana or exiled to a barren cave like Ayla but shunned by her friends after busting an end-of-summer party by calling the cops; her refusal to speak renders Melinda similarly isolated and remote.

I especially admire the way Anderson’s deft narration plays out the paradox of silence giving voice to revelation. As Melinda comes to terms with her devastating secret—having been raped by… show more.

In this book Laurie Halse Anderson lets us inside the mind of Melinda, a high schooler who finds herself increasingly isolated from friends and family.

As a reader, it was easy to share her frustration with how others treat her, because it was clear that her inner world didn’t match up with what others perceived outside of her. She has experienced a traumatic event, a violation that she doesn’t know how to process or talk about.

This novel masterfully captures the way Melinda compartmentalizes what has happened to her and grasps for coping mechanisms. Some of my favorite scenes occur… show more.

For any teen or adult who has been sexually assaulted or had any self-esteem issues, you should read this book.

Melinda, the protagonist, is dealing with the same issues that many teenagers deal with: self-esteem. She’s changing schools from middle school to high school and changing friends. But she’s also hiding a secret, before beginning high school, she was raped at a party one night.

She becomes a friendless outcast. As time passes, she becomes increasingly isolated and practically stops talking altogether. Speak tells the story of a survivor who is the voice for so many alienated teenagers while demonstrating… show more.

High school tends to be a difficult time for a lot of people. There are growing pains, hormones, and heightened emotions, all while trying to establish who you are independently and in relation to other people. For some, this time is made even more difficult when the unimaginable happens. Speak explores healing in the aftermath of violence and rebuilding a part of oneself.

CW: Sexual assault

I love Speak because the prose is so poetic and raw. It's such a realistic portrayal of what it's like to go from confused depression to the realization of what really happened. Assault is so confusing. There's a part of you that doesn't want to believe that's what really happened, so we rationalize what happened--but deep down we know, so it won't let us go. Plus the narrator is so unflinchingly cool. I just reread this last year and it still holds up really well. 

Even before #MeToo this book resonated with me. A girl seemingly stripped of her power by sexual assault has to fight to find the courage to speak truth to power, to be believed, and to regain her voice. I purchased and read this book after certain conservative groups labeled it pornography, an accusation both shockingly wrong but tragically telling. If there is a book equivalent to Edvard Munch’s The Scream, Ms. Anderson’s is it. Her storytelling methods are as powerful as they are memorable.

I am a survivor of sexual violence, and I have a soft spot in my heart for characters who have experienced such trauma. But more than the fact that Melinda, the main character, is date-raped, she is “othered” by her peers, and this refusal on the part of people to see their friends as fully developed complicated human beings is something that drives my own passion for writing stories that expose subtly layered hypocrisy. I have seen first-hand the impact of this book on readers; have had students make outcries to me when we are reading it, and watched boys’… show more.

First of all, it’s banned by many school districts and these books are, therefore, the most important and visceral narratives available. From the first two sentences, Speak takes you back to that dreaded and anticipated first day of high school. “It is my first morning of high school. I have seven new notebooks, a skirt I hate, and a stomachache.” You might think that Melinda Sordino is starting high school in a new area, where she is a stranger. You would be wrong. She knows everyone in her class and they know her. But she is an “outcast.” We don’t… show more.