SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Anderson, Laurie Halse.  1999.  SPEAK.  New York: Farrar Straus Giroux.  ISBN 0374371520

2. PLOT SUMMARY

Melinda Sordino has entered Merryweather High an outcast.  No one will talk to her; students are dropping her books, kneeing her back, glaring, whispering, and even her ex-best friend mouths, "I hate you," on the first day of class.  Melinda's the rat who called the cops on a popular end-of-summer party she was attending, but only she knows the reason.  She was raped by a popular senior and dials 911 for help, but everyone thinks she called to break up the party, so everyone hates her.  Afraid, ashamed, rejected, and confused, Melinda finds herself alone and barely able to speak.  Her inability to communicate leaves her withdrawn, lonely, and a hermit in a janitor's closet.  Only her art teacher, Mr. Freeman seems to recognize pain in her art.  He encourages her to express herself while her biology lab partner inspires her to find her voice.  By the end of the year, Melinda progresses.  She slowly recovers and demonstrates strength when the horrible predator returns.  The "Beast" attacks again when he finds out Melinda told his new girlfriend about the rape and attempts to violate her once again, but this time she breaks the silence.  

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Anderson's novel is an internal journey within the mind of a teenage girl who has endured a traumatic event.  Melinda's character is emotional.  She's biting her lips, cutting her wrists, skipping school, and staying quiet.  She's "a wounded zebra in a National Geographic special" and predators lurk all around.  Her character is witty, detailed, and authentic, and she reveals, without abandon, her teenage life: cliques, whacky teachers, selfish friends, busy parents, unchaperoned parties, secrets, and depression. 

The novel provides small details that predate the present: phone's "long curly cord," student's use of a "tape recorder," hospital staff with "beepers," but the description of the students, school, and family as well as Melinda's experience transcend time and still manage to give a sense of now.  Anderson's style of writing also provides a contemporary feel.  Her internal dialogue is raw and her descriptions revealing.  The chapters are paced by the marking periods of Melinda's freshman year with a report card at the end of each - Attitude, Lunch, and Clothes grades are added to the other principle subjects.  She writes in Top Ten lists, multiple choice options, and provides dialogue cues in her telling of conversations; she provides nicknames to many of her acquaintances (Hairwoman, Basketball Pole, Greek God, IT, Hero) - all of which give an authentic adolescent feel to the novel.    

SPEAK is a coming of age story readers (especially teens) will love.  Her character must admit and overcome her rape in order to move on.  "IT happened.  There is no avoiding it, no forgetting.  No running away, or flying, or burying, or hiding."   The boy villain, "Andy Beast," is balanced by the smart, heroic, David Petrakis who counsels Melinda: "Don't expect to make a difference unless you speak up for yourself."  Teens who have felt like outsiders or undergone devastation will empathize with Melinda and learn from her triumph. 

4. AWARDS & REVIEW EXCERPTS

ABC Children's Booksellers Choices Award, 2000
Carolyn W. Field Award, 2000
Cuffies: Children's Booksellers Choose Their Favorite (and not-so-favorite) Books of the Year, 1999
Edgar Allan Poe Award, 2000
Evergreen Young Adult Book Award, 2002
Garden State Teen Book Award, 2002
Golden Kite Award, 2000
Heartland Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature, 2001
Kentucky Bluegrass Award, 2001
Los Angeles Times Book Prize, 1999
Michael L. Printz Award, 2000
Sequoyah Book Award, 2002Society of School Librarians International Book Awards, 2000
South Carolina Young Adult Book Award, 2002
Volunteer State Book Award, 2003

Kirkus Reviews, pointer review

The plot is gripping and the characters are powerfully drawn, but it is its raw and unvarnished look at the dynamics of the high school experience that makes this a novel that will be hard for readers to forget.

Publisher's Weekly, starred review
A stunning first novel. . . . Anderson infuses the narrative with a wit that sustain the heroine through her pain and holds readers' empathy. . . . Melinda's hard-won metamorphosis will leave readers touched and inspired."

5. CONNECTIONS

* Follow Daily Lesson Plan activies as you read the book
http://www.lsu.edu/faculty/jpullia/3223speakllesson.htm

*Watch the full length movie and compare details:
   http://www.yidio.com/movie/speak/22454?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=Search&utm_campaign=speak-MOVIE&utm_term=speak&sf_campaign=Movies&sf_adgroup=speak-MOVIE&sf_adid=11722269611&sf_keyword=speak&sf_type=b&sf_placement=&gclid=CJ3hsM_d5LgCFUPl7AodgXcASg
  

*Read CATALYST by Laurie Halse Anderson which also takes place in the town of Merryweather:

Anderson, Laurie Halse.  2002.  CATALYST.  New York: Viking.  ISBN 9780670035663

* Create your own piece of art that evokes emotion and represents a transformation in your own life.