Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

 

A. Bibliographic Data

     Anderson, Laurie Halse. 2010. SPEAK. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.

    ISBN: 0-374-37152-0

B. Summary

Speak is a story of Melinda struggling to find her voice. She experienced something so horrible and hasn’t been able to tell anyone because they all are mad at her for calling the cops at an end-of-summer party. Throughout the story, you see what she has been going through with what happened at that party, losing her friends, no one understanding her, and no one trying to find out why she won’t talk anymore. It isn’t until she starts her art class and gets a chance to work on her art project that she begins to interpret the world around her, and her emotions, and in the end, she can finally SPEAK.

C. Critical Analysis

Every aspect of this story was relatable from start to finish, and the flow of the story and the description of the school and what it's like to be a teenager are all spot on to reality. Anderson’s writing takes you back to high school, the emotions you feel about finding your cliché (your place), and how people change at the start of high school. Besides the traditional conflicts you face in high school that are depicted very well in this book you also follow the added struggle that Melinda is going through. As someone who has experienced abuse, I feel Anderson was able to show how someone may be processing what happened. I find that her story also has powerful meaning in the fact that the adults around her were missing the point that something was very wrong. Her art teacher sensed something after she began to practice her tree art. Yet, her parents and other school administrations should have seen that something was off and never did. This is a great book for even parents to read because you don’t need to assume they your child is just being a “teenager”.

 The title in my opinion is very symbolic because of a variety of reasons:

-          Melinda can’t talk (speak) about what happened to her at the party.

-          She can’t talk (speak) to her friends anymore because they are mad at her but also, they changed throughout the summer finding their spot in the world of high school.

-          If she (speaks) will anyone even listen to her?

-          Art is how she communicates (speaks) the darkness she feels.

-          She stops talking (speaking) since she is in such a dark space in her mind and reality.

-          She finds that she can (speak) in other ways such as using art, writing on the wall of the restroom, and using body language.

-          Her parents don’t know how to communicate with one another or with her, and so she doesn’t even try to (speak).

The biggest lessons this book teaches us are that you need to express your emotions, find your voice, and the importance of communication.

D.  Book Reviews

From Booklist

Having broken up an end-of-summer party by calling the police, high-school freshman Melinda Sordino begins the school year as a social outcast. She's the only person who knows the real reason behind her call: she was raped at the party by Andy Evans, a popular senior at her school. Slowly, with the help of an eccentric and understanding art teacher, she begins to recover from the trauma, only to find Andy threatening her again. Melinda's voice is distinct, unusual, and very real as she recounts her past and present experiences in bitterly ironic, occasionally even amusing vignettes. In her YA fiction debut, Anderson perfectly captures the harsh conformity of high-school cliques and one teen's struggle to find acceptance from her peers. Melinda's sarcastic wit, honesty, and courage make her a memorable character whose ultimate triumph will inspire and empower readers. Debbie Carton

From Kirkus Reviews

A frightening and sobering look at the cruelty and viciousness that pervade much of contemporary high school life, as real as today's headlines. At the end of the summer, before she enters high school, Melinda attends a party at which two bad things happen to her. She gets drunk, and she is raped. Shocked and scared, she calls the police, who break up the party and send everyone home. She tells no one of her rape, and the other students, even her best friends, turn against her for ruining their good time. By the time school starts, she is completely alone and utterly desolate. She withdraws more and more into herself, rarely talking, cutting classes, ignoring assignments, and becoming more estranged daily from the world around her. Few people penetrate her shell; one of them is Mr. Freeman, her art teacher, who works with her to help her express what she has so deeply repressed. When the unthinkable happens the same upperclassman who raped her at the party attacks her again something within the new Melinda says no, and in repelling her attacker, she becomes whole again. 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. (Fiction. 12+) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

E. Connections

Some great connection ideas would be:

1.     As a class, notice and discuss the figurative language that is throughout this book. Can the students identify the different types? Can they interpret its meaning? Are they relatable?

2.    You could either read or have the students read, I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS by Maya Angelou. Why is this important in the relationship of this book, SPEAK?

3.   I would have the students write down their book thoughts about the main characters (character traits), and draw what they think the settings look like, what parts of the book do you feel were key. Then watch the Speak by the Lifetime channel, and after watching the movie they can answer the same question from before and notice if you agree with how the film depicted the characters, settings, and scenes in the movie.