Speak

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Average customer rating 4.4 (19 comments)

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As more “adult” topics are being masterfully incorporated into literature for younger audiences, from mental health to gun violence and everything in between, it is important not to forget groundbreaking titles like Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak (1999), which rooted the necessity of such a text. Speak follows Melinda over the course of a school year, introduced with the implosion of her friend group for unknown reasons. Beyond the fact that the whole school seems to hate her, every detail leading up to that hate is only offered at points in the story where Melinda has worked through them enough to share. Seemingly unmoored from care or attention from classmates or adults, she must learn to heal from trauma on her own. Unintentionally negligent parents, a supportive art teacher, and the free-roaming Beast shape Melinda’s story into one of reclamation and empowerment after a tragedy. Speak is directed toward a high school audience and raises awareness of a commonly taboo subject which Anderson insists can no longer be ignored. To pretend that Melinda’s story does not exist is to silence her and all of the young people who share similar experiences. This book facilitates a much-needed conversation about sexual assault and the process of one person’s recovery in its wake. Melinda’s frustrated voice punches through the narration, despite her limited speaking role. Speak is her unsilencing.

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It was really short, i felt like it should have been more thought out. But, it was a good book!

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I first read this book a few years ago when I was in school. It is a very powerful story that deals with hard to talk about topics. I know a girl who went through some of the same things as Melinda did in this story. Ms. Anderson wrote an amazing book that was hard to put down. I enjoyed it and I think it should be required reading in our schools. I would also recommend another book by this Author called "Wintergirls" also very powerful.

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Speak is a perfect book for someone to get lost in another persons world. though Speak is Andersons most popular book i do not think it was her best.

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A must-read for every educator, parent, and youth.

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“Speak” written by Laurie Halse Anderson is a very capturing novel. It explores the life of a teenage girl with loads of emotional baggage. Anderson uses dialogue as well as spelling in interesting ways. For example, the main character of Melinda rarely chooses to speak, so while she is involved in a conversation, with her mother for example, Anderson uses play like dialogue to emphasize the lack of words spoken. Also, she chooses to spell words phonetically with no particular rhyme or reason, but it gives the reader a sense of character. It allows one to connect with Melinda. Although I do not particularly choose to read as often as I should I found this book to be extremely enjoyable, and quite difficult to put down. It had realistic emotion and circumstance, and I believe that is quite important. Upon my completion of “Speak” I willingly chose to read another one of Laurie Halse Anderson’s novels because I felt that the quality of this one was so superb.

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The novel “Speak” was an inspiring and motivational book to read. It is about a freshman girl named Melinda Sordino who has no friends and everyone dislikes her for a summer incident that happened, no one understands what happened to her. She makes an acquaintance named Heather; Melinda treated her like a best friend until Heather decides that she doesn’t want to be counted as her friend. As things become worse in her life she starts to understand life. With the help of her art teacher, she learned how to put her feelings into her art work. She started to ditch school and hid in an old janitor’s closet which became her get away place to be alone and put herself together. Flashbacks of the party come to her at random times, scared to tell someone what IT did to her. Her ex-best friend is with IT, and she’s worried that he will hurt her, so she writes a letter to Rochelle to tell her what had happened at the party, but she completely ignored it. The more she remembers what happened the more her art work became powerful, creative, and filled with emotion. Keeping her emotions inside of her, builds up to finally speaking up and telling Rochelle one day in the library that she was raped at the party and that’s why she called the cops that night. Rochelle believed her at first until she told her who the rapist was. Finally Rochelle figures out that she was telling the truth. The last day of school Melinda stays after school to clean up the closet, it was hot and muggy, and the stench of Andy Evans filled the room. Knowing that she isn’t alone she fights her way out and finally breaks free from the nightmare he put her in. she understood what happened and so did everyone else at the school!

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Melinda Sordino had many great things such as great friends, good grades, and a great relationship with her parents. But it took one party to mess it all up. She went to a party during her summer vacation with her friend Rachel, she got drunk and the most unexpected thing happened to her. She called the cops but ran home and didn't say anything to them. When she entered high school as a freshman nobody liked her for what she did. She became a loner, she never talked, she ditched classes, and she was doing badly in school. Then when a new girl, Heather, met Melinda they became friends. Their friendship didn't last long because Heather joined the Martha's. Melinda was becoming friends with another girl named Ivy. She met her in her art class. Art was the only class she was doing well in. Her teacher was Mr. Freeman and he could see through Melinda that she was hurting inside, so he assigned a project. Melinda got the tree as her project and as she drew trees in many ways Mr. Freeman saw more and more of her. Then her ex-best friend starts going out with a senior, Andy Evans. Melinda tried to make Rachel understand that he wasn't a good person, but she wouldn't listen. She said that Melinda was just jealous. Melinda couldn't do nothing about it. But as the book goes on u will see a huge change in Melinda. I think that this boook sends out a strong message to teenagers because it tells a story about a teenage girl that goes through a tragic situation that a lot of teens go through and can relate to. I really liked this book because it tells me to be careful if I'm out with a few friends, or going to parties. There are a lot of bad people out there and you never know who it might be. The author's message is to show what teenagers go through these days. To be careful who you are with. Even if you think you know them they might be faking it to get to you. I would recommend this book to anyone. Maybe it might even let boys see what girls go through and how they fell, most girls get pregnant because of it. Some even get kind of traumatized just like Melinda did. If they are the same problems as Melinda it might help them out a lot. I don't think that anyone wouldn't want to read ths book even if they don't like to read this will take them in like it did to me. (491 words)

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Melinda, a teenage girl, had a lot of friends during summer but she lost them when she called the cops. She didn’t know what to do; everyone got mad at her and didn’t talk to her for a while. High school started, she wouldn’t speak up and no one would talk to her. She wanted to say something but every time she tried her throat would dry up and she would always freeze. The only person that she could really talk to was her art teacher, Mr. Freeman. He knew something was very wrong with her; every assignment that he would give her she couldn’t do it without showing her problem. The one thing that she couldn’t make come alive was a tree and it was because it was the one thing that she was afraid or traumatized by .The only friend that she didn’t really loose was Heather and she was there for her until she joined the Marathas, then she became a little mean to Melinda. Every day after school she would go to the one place that she can relax without any problems and that was her closet. Melinda has a very good personality, but she couldn’t open up to her problems .I really liked this book because it explained everything and had great details. The author’s message was to find help with anything that is bothering. Don’t let anything bother you or get you not to talk. If you have a problem tell someone as soon as possible or it can cause more problems. I would recommend this book to every teenage girl and any girl who has a problem like Melinda. Well, I think that anyone who enjoy reading this book except boys. This book is more for all girls or teenage girls with problems like Melinda. Guys wouldn’t enjoy this, unless they understood it like all girl. (327words)

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I absolutely loved this book! I usually don't like to read, but this book I just couldn't put down. It never told you what happened until the very end. That's what made it so interesting. I can honestly say that I would definitely read any books by this author. This book is so awesome that it made me realize not to judge a book by its cover. Everything this book said I could relate to. If you're 12 years & up this is the perfect book for you. Heather was so caught up in fitting in that she totally forgot about Melinda until she needed her to do something for her. Melinda never said NO to helping heather. They were the main characters and to me they both were good characters. Melinda never told people why she called the cops before school started that is why she wasn't like very much at school. That is all I have to say besides this is an AWESOME book.

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Speak. The book Speak is a mind blowing book it’s about a young high school girl who is having a lot of troubles with her life. Melinda just started high school and things are not going to good for her. All her friends from the years past had stopped talking to her because she called the cops at a party she had gone to with a few of her friends. Nobody will let her tell them what really happened at the party; she is scared that nobody will believe what really did happen. She feels like an outcast compared to all the other students that are attending her school. She meets Heather during the second week of school and they sit with each other at lunch Melinda goes to Heathers house a few times. Then Heather all of a sudden wants be in a group of the popular girls, so she leaves Melinda. Now Melinda’s grades go down and nobody wants to be around her. She cannot believe that Heather would turn her back on her, like everybody else had done before. There were many different kinds of conflicts that had happened in this breathtaking story. I liked how the book didn’t say what happened until the end of the story it keep you waiting and not wanting to put the book down. I believe the author is trying to send out a good moral and a lesson to the reader. I think she is trying to say that if you are put into a very bad situation you should not keep it a secret you should go and tell an adult. I do recommend this book, but not for anyone who is younger than twelve.

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I enjoyed Speak very much. It is a phenomenal book, I love it. I like how the author waited till the end to tell what happened, but it made me very anxious to find out. Books like this want you to just keep reading till you get to the end. I couldn’t stop reading it. I like how the book was teen related, it helped me understand it a lot better. Melinda had a bad experience which didn’t help her fitting in at school. Nobody knew the truth about Mel, but yet everyone was mean to her when she had no other choice but to call the cops.

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Melinda is a very lonely freshman in high school. She wants to have friends, but everyone hates her for calling the cops on a huge party, even the three girls she was best friends with since preschool. Unfortunately, she didn’t call the cops to ruin the party, she did it for a completely different reason that she feels no one will believe. She would tell her parents, but they are not as close as she would like them to be. It seems the only person she can really talk to is inside her mind. No one else will listen because no one else is around to. When I was reading this book, I seriously couldn’t put it down. It was almost like an addiction. I put the bookmark in, set it down, then snatch it right back up and kept reading. I loved how the author waited so long to tell what happened at that party. I think that’s what kept me reading. I just had to find out what happened. When I got to the end, I kept reading, over and over, the part where “IT” showed up in her super secret closet at the school. I got so excited, I told everyone I saw the next day about the book. I think the author was trying to say that no matter what the secret is, you could tell anybody, and they can relate or understand. Melinda didn’t want to tell anyone because she thought they would think she was lying, when really, they would comfort her. This book is great for thirteen years and up. If you like slow moving stories with a big secret at the end, this is definitely the book for you. If you get angry really easy at characters you can’t see, this is most definitely NOT the book for you. Either way, this book’s amazing and I highly recommend it.

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love it too much to say so i'm going to keep it short i love it

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Well...this book was worse than i thought it would be. It was about a young girl's life during high school(mainly th beginning). She starts out with no friends, and doesn't gain many throughout the book. If you want to see what happens you have to read it yourself( or just visit some kind of "notes" site, but sparknotes doesn't have it) Happy reading!

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Mary Kacprowicz Blue Speak Book Review Set in Syracuse, New York at Merryweather High School, Speak is an amazing book that tells the tale of Melinda Sordino. After facing trouble at a party the last week of summer, Melinda returns to school friendless, and emotionally scarred. Although she hardly talks about what happened to her, she is able to express and get rid of some of her angst and depression through her artwork. By writing about a very real and very scary topic for most people, the author teaches awareness of the consequences of alcohol, partying and not thinking clearly. She also encourages girls to speak out if they’ve been hurt in ways similar to Melinda’s. Although the book is upsetting, it is also inspiring and understanding as Melinda tries to move on from that chapter of her life. On the last page of the story, many of the themes are tied together in Melinda’s epiphany. “It wasn’t my fault. He hurt me. It wasn’t my fault. And I’m not going to let it kill me. I can grow.”(p.198) By stating this, Melinda realizes she can’t keep her emotions bottled up; she has to stand up and speak out for herself. Melinda is also taught a lesson in diversity and perfection by her art instructor. “Breathe life into it…scar it, give it a twisted branch- perfect trees don’t exist. Nothing is perfect. Flaws are interesting. Be the tree.”(p.153) Throughout the story, I loved the voice of Melinda’s thoughts and how real the social interactions of the characters were. Although the adult roles in the story seemed distant and bland, Laurie Halse Anderson has created an excellent book, that all young adults should read. By incorporating very real topics in her book, she accomplished her goals and left me wanting more to read.

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Set in Syracuse, New York at Merryweather High School, Speak is an amazing book that tells the tale of Melinda Sordino. After facing trouble at a party the last week of summer, Melinda returns to school friendless, and emotionally scarred. Although she hardly talks about what happened to her, she is able to express and get rid of some of her angst and depression through her artwork. By writing about a very real and very scary topic for most people, the author teaches awareness of the consequences of alcohol, partying and not thinking clearly. She also encourages girls to speak out if they’ve been hurt in ways similar to Melinda’s. Although the book is upsetting, it is also inspiring and understanding as Melinda tries to move on from that chapter of her life. On the last page of the story, many of the themes are tied together in Melinda’s epiphany. “It wasn’t my fault. He hurt me. It wasn’t my fault. And I’m not going to let it kill me. I can grow.”(p.198) By stating this, Melinda realizes she can’t keep her emotions bottled up; she has to stand up and speak out for herself. Melinda is also taught a lesson in diversity and perfection by her art instructor. “Breathe life into it…scar it, give it a twisted branch- perfect trees don’t exist. Nothing is perfect. Flaws are interesting. Be the tree.”(p.153) Throughout the story, I loved the voice of Melinda’s thoughts and how real the social interactions of the characters were. Although the adult roles in the story seemed distant and bland, Laurie Halse Anderson has created an excellent book. By incorporating very real topics in her book, she accomplished her goals and left me wanting more to read.

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This book is a good read. It gets the audience thinking about how we cannot survive if we bottle everything up. There are many different motifs throughout the book, one of them being the motif of the mouth. It is a good read to open up discussion in a classroom.

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A really great read, but a little too predictable. Although I highly recommend this book, it would not be surprising if you figured out the ending within the first few chapters, as I did. Still, check it out. Young adults everywhere will love it!