Topic 2: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Anderson, Laurie Halse. Speak. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1999. ISBN: 0374371520.

SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson is a delightfully frank book that hits on several issues that teenagers may have to face. Something horrible happened to Melinda Sordino at a high school party the summer before her freshman year. Her friends refuse to speak to her because she called the police. She enters high school in a pelting of jabs and isolating silence. Trying to stay silent has cut Melinda off from her friends and is cutting her off from her parents, and sometimes even from herself. The poignancy of the story stems from the fact that she has to decide whether to speak up or remain silent perhaps at the cost of her sanity.

Though the title holds the sound of a command, silence is what meets most of the adults in the story. With the exception of her art teacher and a few chosen students, Melinda remains locked in silence. “Her silence, while extreme, is emblematic of the silence that often afflicts girls--particularly middle class girls--as they enter adolescence and the comparatively impersonal, competitive atmosphere of secondary school.” (Smith, 585). Melinda’s art project involves a tree and her efforts to perfect her drawings and sculpture seems almost a symbolic effort she is making to perfect herself by erasing the past things that have happened.

Anderson’s SPEAK has Melinda navigating her way through a choppy sea of uncaring teachers, down-right mean students, competitive sports, and a possible blooming of romance. The matter-of-factness about the story-telling allows the reader to relate to a young woman in deep pain without passing judgment on her. The sometimes choppy dialogue and caustic wit of the main character drive the story forward, sounding altogether genuine. “Melinda's acerbic commentary on school, the behavior of her former friends, and family dynamics, is used to confirm the young teenager's mastery of a lucid and critical discourse… that helps her maintain her sanity in the face of overwhelming pressures.” (Smith, 587).


References:

Smith, Sally. Review of Speak. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy Vol. 43, Issue 6
(March 2000), 585-588.