Speak

Anderson, L. (1999). Speak. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux.

High school: a world of academic expectations, future planning, cliques, parties and raging hormones. Everyone’s experience is different. Speak is told through the eyes of Melinda. She is a 9^th grade outcast. She refuses to engage, participate and speak. Her entire world changes during the summer of 8^th grade. High school is a nightmare, and she is terrified of IT. Melinda struggles to understand and process a tragic event. Life has become meaningless and school pointless. Through her inner struggle and chosen isolation in the school’s storage closet, Melinda finds strength to stand up. When her attacker attempts to repeat his offense against her, she strikes back and sets herself free. Anderson brings to life the emotional heartache many experience from being pressured in a time of confusion, being ridiculed and shunned and feeling as if your on the outside looking in. Melinda shares her inner struggle with the reader with quick wit and painful truth. The book is engaging with hilarious sarcasm describing the hierarchy and politics of the educational system. It is poetically written with symbolism and imagery, yet is also blunt and honest about life. Speak is a story of pain, disappointment, strength and courage. The book would be a beneficial tool for high school teachers in analyzing literary features of realistic fiction, but it would also be a powerful resource to help students who have been the victim of rape find ways to cope.