Speak

What an amazing, thought-provoking book! It's hard to write a review - all you can think of is "Squeee!"

Reader reviewed by Adrianne

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson is very enjoyable to read because it was a girl in the ninth grade and her life in the ninth grade. This novel is very interesting and enjoyable. Reading this novel is a definite positive because it relates to problems that teenage girls(sometimes boys)go through. The characters in the book seemed very real.

One of my favorite characters is Melinda. She is the main character of the book, everything that happens to her seems as though it can, and it does, happen in the world everyday. Melinda has many problems that she has kept from her parents, friends, and teachers for about a whole year. She is very courageous to go through one school year having one friend, and even though she feels she is a failure at times she still lives through those rough times.

Laurie H. Anderson does a great job creating the characters of the book Speak. They seem like the kind of people that walk down the hall ways everday. I would definitely recommend this boo! k to all me friends. They would read it because the context is very readable and just the whole book is wonderful. From reading this novel I learned that your true friends will always be on your side through good times and bad times. I experienced from reading this novel that without friends ones life is incomplete. This book was awesome and teh author should be really proud of it!

This book is amazing and I love how it is actually about real situations in life, I think it is great to read when you get overwhelmed with supernatural books!

Why? This question ran through my mind as I read Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. For example, why did Anderson portray her main character Melinda as a sarcastic and therefore sometimes unlikeable teenager? Or, why did Anderson keep readers in the dark until partway through her novel about the incident that changed Melinda’s life? Now that I’ve finished reading Speak, I agree with Anderson’s choices but have yet another question. How did Anderson write so smartly about teenagers and high school, while also being timeless? Speak was published in 1999, but it pulled me back to the 1980’s. Despite the lack of references to cell phones and IPods, I think my adolescent siblings will also find themselves in its pages. Speak is a problem-centered novel, which contains enough depth to also be simply good fiction.

For about half of Speak, I didn’t know whether to like or dislike Melinda. Near the start of a new school, her only friend announces that the two of them must plan goals. Her friend draws four boxes, one for each marking period, and then writes “Goals” in each box. What is Melinda’s goal? “To go home and take a nap.” As the year progresses, Melinda starts skipping classes and blowing off homework. Even though I quickly realized that Melinda’s misbehaviors were arising from depression, her apathy and bitterness make her sometimes unpleasant. Melinda refers to all of her teachers except her art instructor by labels rather than their names. Despite once being a good student, Melinda makes this quip about social studies: “Who knew there had been a war with the whole world?” In the same vein, while Melinda apparently used to have lots of popular friends, she now has negative things to say about most everyone. At the same time, Melinda is achingly vulnerable; she describes herself as having the wrong hair, wrong clothes, and wrong attitude. It’s difficult to dislike someone who is so insecure. Melinda is starkly honest. She admits that she could better handle Nicole’s popularity if Nicole were a bitch, because then she could hate her. Melinda is also surprisingly perceptive. When Valentine’s Day rolls around, she notes that in middle school it was “easier to floss with barbed wire than admit you like someone” whereas in high school kids kiss right in front of everyone. If I’d been as savvy as her in high school, maybe I’d have gotten hurt less. When Melinda eventually starts tackling her problems, she shows herself capable of helping her parents, taking an interest in school, and even of being thoughtful of her peers. If it weren’t for her depression, perhaps Melinda could be a pretty nice kid.

The problem is that for about half of Speak, I don’t understand how Melinda became this way. She used to have friends, but now for some reason they all hate her. They glare at her, give her the silent treatment, and refuse to sit next to her. When Melinda finds a forgotten janitorial closet that like her has no purpose or name, she decides that it would make the a perfect hiding spot. Melinda even figures her parents would have been divorced by now if she hadn’t been born. After all, she is not pretty, smart, or athletic, but just another “ordinary drone like them dressed in secrets and lies”. All this self-pity could become nauseating, given that we don’t know the reason for it, except there are all of Melinda’s memories about the better times. She describes a previous Halloween when her circle of friends all dressed up as witches. There are even funny moments in the present, such as when her dad talks to a turkey hotline lady, makes a turkey soup, and eventually tosses dumps the failed meal in the trash and orders pizza. When Melinda lets down her guard, there are also some very sweet moments when she finds she is not completely alone.

I was surprised to learn that Speak was Anderson’s first book. In less capable hands, Speak could have mired in negativiity. I have seen this happen in far too many other young adult novels. Or it could have turned into a self-help book guised as fiction. I have seen this happen in many television movies. Instead through Melinda’s commentaries on high school life, we see Melinda evolve not just as person dealing with a problem, but also as an adolescent learning the repercussions of speaking up but also of staying silent. In less capable hands, Speak could also have failed to deliver a satisfying end to the mystery running throughout it about what happened to Melinda. Anderson deftly depicts Melinda’s descent into mental hell through her struggles in art class. Melinda’s art teacher Mr. Freeman gives each student a piece of paper with the name of an object, which they’ll spend the rest of the year trying to turn into art. Melinda picks: tree. At first she wants to throw it back, thinking it is too easy. She isn’t allowed. As the year progresses, she finds that expressing her emotions through a tree is incredibly difficult. Through this symbolism, Speak shows the journey that Melinda takes in trying to repress and then later reveal of an event that happened to one night.

Speak is a well-crafted. Anderson undertook the challenge of introducing a disenfranchised teenager and convincing readers to like her. How much easier that challenge would have been if Anderson had revealed from the start what had happened to Melinda. Anderson also undertook the challenge of revealing details about the events of that August night, only as Melinda was ready to deal with them. How much easier Anderson’s challenge would have been if she’d simply told a straightforward story about how Melinda came to terms with the fact that bad things can happen. That she instead took the higher road, readers are blessed with a complex and richly textured story that is still applauded over ten years after its publication. Anderson is still writing problem novels. Speak is an impressive introduction to her writings.

Reader reviewed by Brandy Alexander

Summary:

Melinda Sordino is raped at a summer party prior toher freshman year of high school. She calls the police for help, and the party ends up being raided. Everyone find's out she's the one who called the police. And by her first day of high school her friends,a dn everyone else shun her. Throughout the year she struggles to keep a friend, make a friend, keep up in school, and deal with the fact that she was raped.

Opinion:

To be completely honest, I did not enjoy this book. I felt that it was typical, predictable, lousy, and unoriginal. I feel like the storylibe is over used and then fabricated, which makes it worse. Also, I felt like her writing was forceful, like she had to forcefully pull the words out one by one, and over thought it as well. This is not meant to insult Laurie Halse Andersn nor her novel, it's ust my genuine opinion. I do beleve she has the potential as a professional writer to write better than she has.

This book is great for anyone who are coming to age and be prepared to have your eyes and feel connect.

This story is just amazing. It is beautifully written and goes into so much depth. Its a story about finding your voice, even if what you have to say is terrifying.

liked this book

Reader reviewed by Megan

What would you do if you were raped? Melinda Sordino copes with this by not speaking. It isn't that hard, seeing as none of her friends or schoolmates will talk to her because she called the cops on the party where she was raped. Eventually, she gets the guts to speak up about what happened to save a friend from the same fate. An awesome book, I would recommend this one to anyone.

Reader reviewed by Ashley from Ms. Upham's class

During the summer, something happened at a  PARTY  and Melinda  FREAKED OUT  and called the cops.  Now she is starting high school with no friends.  Melinda tries to tell her so called best friend  what happened but she wont  TALK  her and no one will LISTEN!   She feels so lonely and gets so sad.  Not only is she dealing with having no friends but she is also dealing with another terrifying situation and her parents are no help at all.  If you want to know what happened to Melinda and how she got through her  LONELY  first year of high school, read Speak.  If you have ever felt lonely as a teenager, you should read Speak.    

The author makes you want to keep reading and you really feel for Melinda and her situation.  She makes all the characters and situations seem so real.  I think the author is an excellent writer and can't wait to read more of her books.  She really draws you into the book.
This is an excellent book for teenagers because it totally relates to things that go on in high school and shows you a different view of what happens when people are treated wrong.