"Speak" Realistic Fiction-Romance and Sexuality

Title: Speak


Author: Laurie Halse Anderson

Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux, 1999

Genre: Realistic Fiction-Romance and Sexuality


Awards: The Margaret Edwards Award-2009 (Laurie Halse Anderson)
Horn Book Starred-1999
Publisher's Weekly Starred-1999
School Library Journal Starred-1999
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books Starred-1999
The Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in YA Literature-2000

Plot

Melinda Sordino, a freshman at Merryweather High School in Syracuse, NY struggles with many of the issues that face high school students today: friends, peer-pressure, grades, parent relations, activities, acceptance and her secret. A popular senior (Andy) takes advantage of Melinda's less than sober state at a summer party, before the commencement of her freshman year. Melinda's instincts tell her to dial 9-1-1 and she does. Scared and confused, Melinda takes off for home before the authorities arrive to break up the party.

Melinda's introduction to high school life is a rocky one. The entire school knows that she was the one that "ruined the party" and this makes her a social outcast, even among her former close friends. Her parents are not aware either, as the career-occupied couple have no idea that their daughter was at a wild party rather than an innocent sleep over with a friend. Melinda spends the remainder of the school year struggling with the pain of being a social outcast and the secret of her rape.

Despite the seriousness of the issues which Melinda faces and eloquently narrates, she remains strong and witty, even downright funny. She refers to traditional high school cliques, as "clans" and describes her teachers and high school life using lighthearted and comical descriptors. Melinda even features two top ten lists of lies that students are told by their school's administration. (Honest administrators would have to agree that certain elements of Melinda's lists hold merit). These aspects of the novel make the story very enjoyable as Melinda endures her struggles with a heroine-like resolve.

My Reaction

I very much enjoyed the book. As a witness to high school life and culture daily, I appreciated the author's authentic portrayal of modern high school life and the enormous pressures that students face today for acceptance, popularity and individuality. I also liked the book's narrative format and the presentation of an event and the developing revelation of the details, depositing little insights of information leading up to the event. Finally, the author incorporates underlying messages such as the dangers of teen drinking, the importance of family communications, and the vitality of students to have a release, such as a close network of friends or an activity like Melinda's art. I found there to be important reminders that high school students are not adults. They are in fact struggling through the transitional period to adulthood. Teens and adults alike should recognize that teens need to develop their own individual identity, but while doing so, they require adult guidance along the way.

Reader Recommendation

This book would and does appeal to all high school students, particularly girls. The simulation of realistic high school life and culture make it appealing to all, but the character development largely features and relates well to the female high school life. "Speak" is circulated largely to female readers at Pleasant's High School Library.

Book Talk "Hook"

Have you ever been shunned, seeking acceptance, wanting to be part of the "in" crowd? In "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson, find out how a single event took Melinda Sordino from being a popular friendly girl entering her freshman year in high school, to the "outcast" of the entire student body at Merryweather High. In this book you will learn of her struggles to regain acceptance, and the secret that she dared not share in this process. Despite hardships and alienation, Melinda remains humorous with content that will make you laugh-out-loud with delight. Read, "Speak" to find out if she is able to rekindle an y of her friendships and to learn her tumultous secret.