Speak

Anderson, L.H. (1999). Speak. New York, NY: Penguin. Melinda Sordino is a freshmen at Merryweather High School. There, she is treated as an outcast.  Before the school year began, she attended a party and subsequently called the police who put an end to the high school party. Presumably, this is why Melinda no longer has any friends, except for Heather (a new girl in town). Later in the story, we find out that Melinda was raped by a popular senior (Andy Evans) at that party and she had been having a hard time dealing with it. She never spoke a word about what happened to her and instead coped by biting her lip and nails. Melinda finally builds up her courage to tell her former friend Rachel of what happened but Rachel is now dating Andy and doesn’t believe her. However, she is happy that she finally told someone and can now feel free. This book would be ideal for students ages: 12 to 17. I would suggest to students that are interested in this story, more novels by this same author. Laurie Anderson’s books, although different subjects, have similar styles. In this particular book, the lesson that could be learned is that it is best to talk about things that are bothering you, if not, you become a slave to the secret. Figurative language is being developed within this novel. Melinda uses this type of language throughout the book. Context clues help to give meaning to her sarcastic language.