Bibliographic Information
Publisher: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux
Publication year: 1999
ISBN: 978-0312674397
Reader’s Annotation
Melinda Sordino enters high school with no friends, little enthusiasm, and a big secret about what happened at an end-of-summer party. After becoming isolated and selectively mute, Melinda begins a journey to gain some strength and take back her life.
Plot Summary
Melinda had high hopes for high school, until she called the police from the end-of-summer party and got everyone busted. Now she is entering Merryweather High with one overbearingly enthusiastic transfer student as a friend and the hatred of the rest of the student body. Instead of tell anyone why she has withdrawn, why her grades have declined, and why she called the police in the first place, Melinda keeps her mouth shut and head down. With the help of a caring art teacher and creative lab partner, Melinda begins to come out of her new, protective shell over the course of her freshman year. However, she is forced to confront her living nightmare when she finds herself face to face with the root of the party’s problem almost a full year later.
Critical Evaluation
Anderson provides a masterful portrait of an assault victim who is afraid to tell anyone about the crime committed against her. Equally importantly, the author provided the devices of Melinda’s lab partner David Petrakis and ex-best friend Rachel. Rachel is the first person Melinda tells about the attack almost a year after it happens, and Rachel responds with disbelief that her now-boyfriend Andy would do such a thing. This reaction to Melinda’s difficult confession is an unfortunate but accurate representation of potentially awful ways assault victims are treated. On the other hand, David’s friendship is a life raft of sorts for Melinda. He even helps her deliver a speech in class that involves no speaking at all because she is uncomfortable with the assignment, which is symbolic of his trustworthy and comforting presence in her life. Using the people around Melinda, Anderson prepares readers for all the different kinds of people an assault victim might encounter when trying to make their story known.
Author Information
Laurie lives in Northern New York, with her childhood sweetheart, now husband, Scot. She has four wonderful children and a neurotic dog, all of whom she dearly loves. When not enjoying her family and her large garden, she spends countless hours writing in a woodland cottage designed and built just for that purpose by her Beloved Husband. She also likes to train for marathons, hike in the mountains, and try to coax tomatoes out of the rocky soil in her backyard.
She is quite sure that she leads a charmed life and is deeply grateful for it.
Source: http://madwomanintheforest.com/laurie/
Genre
Fiction
Curriculum Ties
Health
Sexual Education
Booktalking Ideas
Talk briefly about rape and sexual assault statistics in high school to give listeners who may not know an idea of how common it is. Explain that PTSD can occur from these attacks and victims are often afraid to tell someone, much like Melinda in Speak. Read the first few pages of the book because it gives an overall idea of Melinda’s mindset and personality without giving away the storyline. Then give a rating from 1-5 and tell the audience why this is my rating, and take questions.
Reading Level/Interest Age
Amazon: Age 12-18, Grade 7-12
Publisher’s Weekly: Ages 12 and up
Challenging Issues
Depression
PTSD
Rape and Sexual Assault
Violence
Preparing for Potential Challenges
http://jeselynsminiyacollection.blogspot.com/p/preparing-for-potential-challenges.html
Why the Item Was Chosen
I have included Speak in my collection because it is a rare gem of a novel. It was a bestseller when first released in 1999, and is still one of the most read young adult novels. The narrative transcends generations because it is relatable on a basic human level to anyone who has ever felt ostracised, experienced any kind of assault or abuse, or attended a public high school. Not only have I included it because of the high quality of writing and storytelling, I have included it because of its popularity. Young adults know this title. They might come to the library looking specifically for Speak, but stay to browse the shelves and go home with Speak and one or two others they have never heard of, but thought sounded good. Not only are popular titles usually enjoyable on their own merit, they can also be used as a draw to the library for people who might not otherwise visit.
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