Genre 6 (Fiction, Fantasy &YA) Speak

SPEAK

By: Laurie Halse Anderson

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Anderson, Laurie H. 1999. SPEAK. New York, N.Y. Penguin Group. ISBN: 0-14-240732-1

SUMMARY

Melinda Sordino’s desperate cry for help after an abusive situation at an end-of-summer party leaves her feeling scared and even more alone than ever. Melisa’s old friends refuse to talk to her, and people she hasn’t met dislike her from a distance. 

CRITICAL REVIEW

Author, Laurie Halse Anderson, has created a contemporary fictional novel that touches on disturbing, yet familiar, topics for many young adult readers; such as sexual assault/abuse, depression, drug and alcohol abuse, peer pressure, social status and eating disorders. Rachel got us to the end-of-summer party, a cheerleader party, with beer and seniors and music. She blackmailed her brother Jimmy, to drive us. We were all sleeping over at Rachel's house. Her mother thought Jimmy was taking us roller-skating. It was at a farm a couple of miles from our development. The kegs were in the barn where the speakers were set up. Most people hung at the edge of the light. They looked like models in blue-jeans ads, thin-thin-thin, big lips, big earrings, white smiles. I felt like such a kid.  Anderson’s novel reaches out and slaps the faces of her readers giving them a much needed wake-up call. Her novel makes her readers think about the deeper underlying issues and turmoil that others around them could be facing on an everyday basis. Anderson helps her readers realize that just because someone doesn’t speak, it doesn’t mean they don’t have something important to say. They just might need someone that will listen.

Not only does Anderson’s novel encourage her readers to pay more attention to others around them, but it also encourages them to “speak” up. You never know who is willing to listen. A great example of someone in Melinda Sordino’s life that is willing to listen is her art teacher, Mr. Freeman. Anderson does an excellent job building a trusting relationship between Melinda and her Mr. Freeman. Through descriptive detail Anderson creates the perfect image of a teacher who is in-tune with his students and cares about their well being. Mr. Freeman is the only teacher of Melinda’s who pushes her to express her emotions through her artwork and provides her with positive and effective feedback.

“I look at my homely sketch. It doesn’t need anything. Even through the river in my eyes I can see that. It isn’t perfect and that makes it just right. The last bell rings. Mr. Freeman comes to my table".

"Mr. Freeman: “Time’s up, Melinda. Are you ready?”

"I hand over the picture. He takes it in his hands and studies it. I sniff again and wipe my eyes on my arm. The bruises are vivid, but they will fade."

"Mr. Freeman: “No crying in my studio. It ruins the supplies. Salt, you know, saline. Etches like acid.” He sits on the stool next to me and hands back my tree. “You get an A+. You worked hard at this.” He hands me the box of tissues. “You’ve been through a lot, haven’t you?”

"The tears dissolve the last block of ice in my throat. I feel the frozen stillness melt down through the inside of me, dripping shards of ice that vanish in a puddle of sunlight on the stained floor. Words float up."

"Me: “Let me tell you about it.”

Many of Anderson’s readers may not have thought about talking to a teacher about their issues until after reading her novel. Anderson has provided her readers with another option other than their parents or friends who, in many cases, are willing to listen and provide guidance through a tough situation.

Another excellent example in the novel of why it is important to "speak" out is because breaking your silence may free others.

"Someone touches my arm gently."Melinda?" It's Ivy. " Can you take the late bus? I want to show you something." We walk together. She leads me to the bathroom, the one where she washed my shirt, which, by the way, still has traces of her marker, even after the bleach. She pointed to the stall, "Take a look.

GUYS TO STAY AWAY FROM

Andy Evens
He's a creep.
He's a bastard.
Stay away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He should be locked up.
He thinks he's all that.
Call the cops.....

There's more. Different pens, different handwriting, conversations between some writers, arrows to longer paragraphs. It's better than taking out a billboard.

I feel like I can fly.    

The novel's characters are believable, realistic and current. Melinda’s internal journey and emotional growth throughout the novel are characteristic of the struggles that many young adult readers identify with on an everyday basis, the loss of friends, the fear of being alone, and the pressures of fitting in.

It is my first morning of high school. I have seven new notebooks, a skirt I hate, and a stomachache.

The school bus wheezes to my corner. The door opens and I step up. I am the first pickup of the day. The driver pulls away from the curb while I stand in the aisle. Where to sit? I’ve never been a backseat wastecase. If I sit in the middle, a stranger could sit next to me. If I sit in the front, it will make me look like a little kid, but I figure it’s the best chance I have to make eye contact with one of my friends, if any of them have decided to talk to me yet....

As they walk down the aisle, people who were my middle-school lab partners or gym buddies glare at me. I close my eyes. This is what I’ve been dreading. As we leave the last stop, I am the only person sitting alone....

Older students are allowed to roam until the bell, but ninth-graders are herded into the auditorium. We fall into clans: Jocks, Country Clubbers, Idiot Savants, Cheerleaders, Human Waste, Eurotrash, Future Fascists of America, Big Hair Chix, the Marthas, Suffering Artists, Thespians, Goths, Shredders. I am clanless...

I am Outcast.

Many of Anderson’s readers are able to identify with Melinda’s character feeling sympathetic toward her emotional distress and maybe even feeling that there is someone else in this world with the same problems they have. Melinda’s character also struggles with romantic and family relationships, which is characteristic of her young adult audience.

“Me: Do you lecture all your friends like this?”

"David: Only the ones I like.”

"We both chew on this for a minute. The bell rings. I keep looking in my locker for a book that I already know isn’t there. David checks his watch a hundred times. We hear Principal Principal bellow, “Let’s move it, people!”

"David: “Maybe I’ll call you.”

"Me: “Maybe I won’t answer.” Chew, chew. Blowbubblepop. “Maybe I will.”

"Is he asking me out? I don’t think so. But he kind of is. I guess I’ll answer if he calls. But if he touches me I’ll explode, so a date is out of the question. No touching.”

Anderson has taken into consideration the language and word choices of her targeted audience. Passages throughout her novel include slang words and phrases that are in some cases tactless but are words that many young adult readers would use to express emotion or frustration in everyday conversation. Even though inappropriate, this type of language is accepted by Anderson's audience because the language adds to the emotion and frustration that Melinda is feeling throughout the novel. " Mom obviously knows I didn't do squat, but she doesn't say anything in the car. We don't leave until way after dark because she has so much work to do. Sales have sucked-she didn't get anywhere near the goal she set."    

Symbolism flows wildly through Anderson's novel. Anderson's readers will quickly notice the similarities between Melinda's art assignment of presenting a tree in an artistic form and her emotional distress. Readers will observe the symbolism from the beginning of the book when her emotions are all distorted and fuzzy to the end of the novel when Melinda frees herself of her scary and disturbing secret of abuse.

"Mr. Freeman: You are getting better at this, but it's not good enough. This looks like a tree, but it is an average, ordinary, everyday, boring tree. Breathe life into it. Make it bend- trees are flexible, so they don't snap. Scar it, give it a twisted branch-perfect trees don't exist. Nothing is perfect. Flaws are interesting. Be the tree."

"My tree is definitely breathing; little shallow breaths like it just shot up through the ground this morning. This one is not perfectly symmetrical. The bark is rough. I try to make it look as if initials have been carved in it a long time ago. One of the lower branches is sick. If this tree really lives someplace, that branch better drop soon, so it doesn't kill the whole thing. Roots knob out of the ground and the crown reaches for the sun, tall and healthy. The new growth is the best part"  

The settings in this contemporary novel are recognizable and familiar to Anderson's readers making the novel believable and realistic. Anderson presents her readers with a novel that is appropriate for any time period or place because it doesn't focus on a specific time period. Anderson describes Melinda's school and home environments so that they are familiar to her readers, also contributing to the believability of the novel. Anderson's novel is being told from Melinda's point of view, which is appropriate for this novel. The tone of Anderson's novel is serious, mysterious, and invigorating at times.

If you are looking for a contemporary fiction classic that can be passed from hand to hand and change countless lives, Speak is the novel for you. I would recommend that every young adult reader gives Anderson's novel a chance the "speak" to them.  If readers are interested in Laurie Halse Anderson speaking about Speak, the platinum edition offers a question and answer section at the conclusion of the novel.    

REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

The Horn Book - starred review  "An uncannily funny book even as it plumbs the darkness, Speak will hold readers from first word to last."

Booklist - starred review  "Melinda's sarcastic wit, honesty, and courage make her a memorable character whose ultimate triumph will inspire and empower readers."

Kirkus Reviews - pointer review  "The plot is gripping and the characters are powerfully drawn...its raw and unvarnished look...will be hard for readers to forget."

CONNECTIONS

Related Text:

Wintergirls - Laurie Halse Anderson ISBN-10: 067001110X
Catalyst  - Laurie Halse Anderson ISBN-13: 978-0142400012
Hate List - Jennifer Brown ISBN-13: 978-0316041454
After - Amy Efaw ISBN-13: 978-0142415900
If I Stay - Gayle Forman ISBN-13: 978-0142415436

Webpage:
Laurie Halse Anderson's personal webpage
Link: http://madwomanintheforest.com/   

Study Guide for Speak:
Link: http://thebestnotes.com/booknotes/Speak_Halse_Anderson/Speak_Study_Guide01.html  

Lesson Plan for Speak:
Link: http://www.viterbo.edu/perspgs/faculty/GSmith/LessonPlanforSpeak.htm