Book Review: Speak

My next novel was one I had read many, many years ago when I was in middle school. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson was thankfully still on my bookshelf, buried far in the back.

L.H. Anderson's website gave off the feeling of being lost in a forest. Calm. Peaceful. Aloof. Maybe that's why her URL link is what it is.

Speak

by L. H. Anderson

Summary

Melinda Sordino, a fourteen year old, attending Merryweather High School. Sitauated in syracuse, New York during present day, Melinda, Mel, is the most hated girl at her high school for reasons we don’t find out until midway through the book.

From the get go, you can tell something occurred to have all of the students be so blatantly obvious about their hatred toward Melinda. She makes funny nicknames for all her teachers (Mr. Neck, Hairwoman, etc.) and uses them in place of their actual name. 

Living with her alcoholic, insurance selling father and store owning mother, only child Melinda didn’t grow up in the best household. Her parents constantly fight, and she believes that if it weren’t for her, they would have already been long divorced. 

Melinda’s best friends from middle school, Rachel, Ivy, and Nicole, now despise her and refuse to even nod hello. Rachel begins hanging out with the International Club and constantly changes her attire and attitude. Ivy is in art with Melinda, but still finds ways to ignore her. Nicole has become a sports god and doesn’t associate with Melinda in P.E. class. 

Melinda spends the first part of the book debating with her inner monologue about if she did the right thing by not saying anything to anyone. As the book progresses, we learn that she called the cops at a high school party she attended the previous summer. Rachel blackmailed her brother, Jimmy, to take them and Rachel had bonus points with the older kids because of her family ties. 

Melinda used to be a straight B student until high school came around. She slowly starts skipping classes, failing work, and becoming a self proclaimed mute when she wants to. The only person she seems to talk to is Heather, a new girl from Ohio, who came in not knowing anyone. 

Heather is a rich, well dressed, bubbly girl who wants to be involved in everything she can, even the Marthas. The Marthas is an invite only club that are known as the goody goodies of the school. Dressing identically, involved in volunteer projects, and all around A students, the Marthas are a group Heather is dying to join at any cost.

Melinda helps Heather with a few projects in the beginning before being dumped by her. Heather calls her depressed, lonely, and mentions how she needs help. Now, with no friends, Melinda is truly alone. 

Melinda spends her free time in an old janitor’s closet that she cleaned out herself. She slowly starts adding her art work to the walls and even posters from the librarian. When she isn’t in the closet hiding, she can be found in the art room working on her tree project. 

Ivy and Melinda begin to slowly share conversations here and there, but nothing much for the majority of the book. Mel spends most of the book silent, upsetting everyone around her because she won’t speak. 

A senior, Andy Evans, who Melinda refers to as IT, is the perfect mold of a human to everyone but her. IT is found roaming though the school, always close to Melinda. When Melinda started to get in real trouble, aside from her normal principal, counselor, parent conferences, she sees IT in in school suspension a few times. When no one is looking, IT makes creepy remarks or sexual advances towards her. We soon find out that, while at the party that summer, Melinda was raped by Andy. 

Melinda’s inner monologue constantly debates if she actually “wanted it” or did something wrong to instigate it. When Rachel, now known as Rachel, begins dating Andy, Melinda writes an anonymous letter to her to warn Rachel about Andy and his true intentions. 

With no one left, Ivy slowly starts interacting with Melinda, informing her that she agrees Rachel has become a “bitch” and ignore her as well. Ivy accidentally marks Melinda’s shirt with markers in art class, sending Mel to the bathroom to try to clean her white shirt. Ivy comes in and Mel creates a thread in the bathroom stall about “boys to stay away from”. The thread turns into a full on conversation between female students about how horrible he is. 

When Mel finally gets the chance to talk one on one with Rachel, she tells her the real reason she called the cops at the party. Rachel is horrified and sympathizes with her until she finds out who raped Mel. Rachel thinks it’s a ploy to make them stop dating and runs away. Rachel and Andy go to prom together, but Rachel dumps him soon after he begins getting handsy on the dance floor. 

Mel begins to clean out her janitor’s closet turned second home and is aggressively shoved back in as she tries to leave. Andy had cornered her and locked the door to prevent her from escaping. He verbally abuses her and finally becomes so aggressive that he punches her in the head. Mel is finally able to scream and speak up for herself. She breaks a mirror, grabs a piece of glass, and holds it to his throat to get him to surrender. When the door opens, the lacrosse team, including Nicole, is there to witness what happened and save her. 

Melinda Sordino started off as the scum of Merryweather High School and ended up as the school’s hero. 

Book Trailer

As a popular middle school read, I found multiple trailers made from all areas. Here were a few I enjoyed the most: one, two, and three. 

Themes

Language/Communication, Isolation, Violence, Friendship, and Guilt.

Similar Themed Books:

13 Reasons Why by J. Asher, The Perks of Being a Wildflower by S. Chbosky, and The Truth About Alice by J. Mathieu.

Other Books by L.H. Anderson

Young Adult- Seven novels were mentioned on her website.

Historical- Four novels were mentioned. I also enjoyed her novel, Fever 1793, and consider it to be one of my favorite historical fiction books.

Vet Volunteers- Seventeen books were mentioned. The books were catered to younger children.

Picture Books- Four were mentioned.

Anthologies- Two were mentioned.

Awards and Nominations

1. New York Times Bestseller
2. Twice nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award
3. National Book Award finalist for Speak and Chains

4. Carnegie medal shortlist for Chains
5. ALA selected her for the 2009 Margaret A. Edwards Award

Teaching Ideas

Rape can be a difficult thing to discuss in middle and high school. Have an open forum, before reading the book, about statistics, numbers, and facts on rape in America. Mention that gender does not make a difference. Many students will have questions, and this is the time to openly discuss what they may face in the novel and how they can handle it.

Have students write down a question or two per chapter over what they want to know or need more information on. By the end of the book, there should be over twenty questions, per child, that can used as another forum. Have students get in small groups to review over each other's questions and to consolidate them all into five major questions. After they have their questions, allow them to use computers and books to research the answers ahead of time, so that when they share their question with the class, they have some insight on how to answer it and explain it to the group.

After you have had a before and after discussion, have students do research on ways to help prevent rape in this day and age. Research companies, products, and ideas that have already been put into place. Ask students if they agree with the idea, or what they would do differently. Show examples such as these for ideas: underwear and nail polish.