Speak

Bibliography

Anderson, Laurie Halse. 1999. Speak. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0374371524.

Brief plot summary

Melinda is a friendless outcast at Merryweather High School. She broke up an end-of-summer party by calling the cops, and now nobody will talk to her, let alone listen to her. As time passes, she becomes increasingly isolated and practically stops talking altogether. It is through her work on an art project that she is finally able to face what really happened at that terrible party.

Critical analysis

For anyone who has ever felt the depths of teenage vulnerability, the raw, naked sense of exposure that seems to be so much a part of adolescence for so many of us, Melinda’s character will resonate deeply and immediately. While she may be sharper, and more biting and witty in her scathing observations of father, mother, former friends, and the idiotic realities of public education, she is at the very least the heroine we all wish we could be in the face of such tragic victimization.

Anderson’s debut novel cuts like a razor in its dissection of a dysfunctional family where father and mother are even more self-absorbed than their daughter. The unsung hero of the novel is (almost amazingly) an art teacher who doesn’t go out of his way to mentor his students, but who by his standard classroom practice manages to create the climate where Melinda is able to work out her grief through her year’s project, learning to depict a tree. Especially effective for me is the germinal, womb-like janitor’s closet where Melinda hides out. Anderson uses this as the novel’s central symbol, reflected in the seemingly dead tree outside Melinda’s bedroom window. Like the tree, Melinda is eventually brought back to life.

She finds her voice, convincingly at the novel’s climax, which is both harrowing and plausible. With it she is able to renegotiate her relationships with her parents, her friends, and the boy who victimized her and comes to a new understanding of her own power and dignity.

Review excerpts

"An uncannily funny book even as it plumbs the darkness, Speak will hold readers from first word to last." – Horn Book, Starred Review
"In her YA fiction debut, Anderson perfectly captures the harsh conformity of high-school cliques and one teen's struggle to find acceptance from her peers. Melinda's sarcastic wit, honesty, and courage make her a memorable character whose ultimate triumph will inspire and empower readers." – Booklist

"A frightening and sobering look at the cruelty and viciousness that pervade much of contemporary high school life, as real as today's headlines…. The plot is gripping and the characters are powerfully drawn, but it is its raw and unvarnished look at the dynamics of the high school experience that makes this a novel that will be hard for readers to forget." – Kirkus Reviews
"Anderson expresses the emotions and the struggles of teenagers perfectly. Melinda's pain is palpable, and readers will totally empathize with her. This is a compelling book, with sharp, crisp writing that draws readers in, engulfing them in the story." – School Library Journal
"In a stunning first novel, Anderson uses keen observations and vivid imagery to pull readers into the head of an isolated teenager. . . . Yet Anderson infuses the narrative with a wit that sustains the heroine through her pain and holds readers’ empathy. . . . But the book’s overall gritty realism and Melinda’s hard-won metamorphosis will leave readers touched and inspired." – Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

"A story told with acute insight, acid wit, and affecting prose." – Library Journal

Awards / Best Books

Michael L. Printz Honor Book, 2000

National Book Award Finalist, 2000

Edgar Allan Poe Award Finalist, 2000

Publisher’s Weekly Best Book of the Year, 1999

Booklist Editors’ Choice, 1999

Bulletin Blue Ribbons, 1999 (Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books)

School Library Journal Best Books, 1999

Horn Book Fanfare, 1999

New York Times Bestseller

YALSA Best Books for Young Adults, 2000

YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, 2000

Young Adults’ Choices, 2001 (International Reading Association)

Classroom Connections

Listen to Laurie Halse Anderson read her poem “Listen” and then respond to the poem and make connections. What might you want to say to Ms. Anderson about your reaction to Speak and how it has affected you personally?

Watch the film version of Speak and debate which is better, the movie or the book?

Pair the reading of Speak with Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic novel The Scarlet Letter.  Students compare and contrast the two novels through a variety of activities. An excellent guide is available at http://madwomanintheforest.com/teachers/deceit-despair-and-dejection/.

Pair the reading of Speak with Maya Angelou’s I know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Look for commonalities and connections between Melinda Sordino and Maya Angelou.

Pair Speak with one of the following poems: “Elephant in the Room” (author unknown) and “I’m Nobody” (Emily Dickinson). Find connections between these poems and Speak.

View the scene where Susanna is forced to see the psychiatrist by her parents in the movie Girl, Interrupted. Students identify things that this scene has in common with Speak.

Have students organize a Clothesline Project in their school or community to address the issue of violence against women. The Clothesline Project is a visual display of shirts with graphic messages and illustrations that have been designed by women survivors of violence or by someone who loves a woman who has been killed. The purpose of the Project is to increase awareness of the impact of violence against women, to celebrate a woman's strength to survive and to provide another avenue for her to courageously break the silence that often surrounds her experience.

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