LS 5623 Speak

Anderson, Laurie Halse. Speak. Speak: New York, 1999.

ISBN: 0-14-131088-X

Melinda lost her voice at the end of the summer between eighth and ninth grades. A rowdy party where booze flows freely is broken up because Melinda calls the cops after she is raped, perpetrated by a boy that no longer has a name, he is an IT. When she enters ninth grade she lives in a reality of numbness and silence. Her friends no longer speak to her. Her parents don't notice that there's anything wrong; they are too caught up in their own lives. When Melinda noticed IT was in school with her she starts avoiding school altogether until she is forced by her parents and the guidance counselor to return and attend class. While she dutifully does as she's told, a final confrontation between Melinda and IT brings to light what happened that summer and a chance for Melinda to finally speak.

While could appreciate what Speak was trying to do, I just felt very irritated throughout the whole reading experience. I wanted to hug Melinda and try to protect her but at the same time I just wanted to shake her out of sheer frustration and tell her to snap out of it and get help. I was amazed that she could not find one adult or one friend in her life that she could talk to about what happened to her. I wondered if that made her sad or angry or if she was just too numb to care if her voice was heard. This is where I see the one of the points of in the book. The people who held conversations with Melinda never cared if she got a word in, her parents yelled AT her, her new "friend," Heather, talked AT her, her teachers talked AT her, and not one of them noticed her silence or extremely short responses? It is inferred that this a drastic change from her behavior of the year before: no one noticed?

Teens will relate to Melinda's perception of how adults sometimes seem they don’t listen to them (and friends selfishly accuse without knowing facts) and the consequential withdrawal from the world. Withdrawal can seem like a perfectly good alternative if there is nothing else that can help them to deal/heal. Her frozen voice perfectly echoes her stagnant existence; she seems trapped at the moment after the rape. Some teens may relate to how time can just stop when something major happens and the struggle to carry on from that moment.

The October 1999 issue of the School Library Journal states: "Melinda's pain is palpable, and readers will totally empathize with her. This is a compelling book, with sharp, crisp writing that draws readers in, engulfing them in the story." Speak is a 2000 Printz Honor Book, a 1999 National Book Award Finalist, An SLJ Best Book of the Year, among other honors. Readers may want to pick up Anderson’s Catalyst, which takes place in the same high school as Speak.