Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

ISBN: 978-0-141-31088-6
Puffin Books, NY
1999
198 pages

Plot Summary

Melina Sordino goes to a party the August before her first year of high school. She drinks beer and then is raped by a boy who will be a senior at the same school. She calls 911 but hangs up before she tells anyone what has happened to her. She is ostracized at school for breaking up the party and spends most of her freshman year silent and virtually friendless.

Critical Evaluation

Spot-on depiction of a high school outcast, this is a powerful book that also manages to make fun of the absurdity of much of high school. While Melinda's pain is evident, she still makes it through her lonely freshman year one day at a time using her silence and her art as shields. Excellent book for reluctant readers.

Reader's Annotation

Melinda starts high school rejected by her middle school friends when her call for help broke up a summer party. Little do they know what really happened to her at that party and why she made the call.

Author Information

Laurie Halse Anderson grew up in Syracuse, NY, and now lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and two daughters. She is an award-winning author of several YA novels (including the historical fiction book Fever 1793) and picture books. She hit a home run with her Speak, her first novel.

Genre

Realistic YA novel

Curriculum Ties

Life Skills class, high school English reading list

Booktalking Ideas

1. Melinda actually talks about her art project with Mr. Freeman

2. Melinda runs into "It" - Andy Evans, her tormentor, on her way to school. She runs away from him and ditches school that day.

Reading/ Interest Level

The reading level could be middle school but the interest level (and intensity of the book) would make it more appropriate for high school

Challenge Issues and Defense

teen rape scene

Printz Honor book, National Book Award Finalist, Edgar Allan Poe Award Finalist

Why I Included This Book

All the librarians at my school said this was a "must read." We used the book in our presentation on controversial YA literature.