Speak

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

224 pages

Publisher:  Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux; October, 1999

ISBN: 0374371520

Level/Lexile:  7th grade and up/690L

Annotation/Teaser:  Melinda chooses to keep quiet rather than admit the truth about what happened at a summer party.  Is it better to stay silent and alone or face the truth and begin to heal?

Plot Summary:  Melinda attends a party with her friends the summer before they start ninth grade.  She ends up calling the cops and has to start her freshman year of high school alone and socially rejected.  A new girl, Heather, tries to befriend Melinda.  Melinda is not interested in having a friend and spends most of her time at school in an abandoned janitor's closet.  Her only consolation is her art class with Mr. Freeman.  Through her art work, a project Mr. Freeman gave the class to take an object and create interpretations of this object, she begins to face reality.  She finally begins to accept and admit what happened to her at the party, when another incident occurs.  Only this time, she defends herself and gains respect from her old friends once again.   

About the Author: Laurie Halse Anderson was born on October 23, 1961 in Potsdam, a very cold, cold place in Northern New York State. It was (and still is) close to the border of Canada. 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

Laurie has loved writing since second grade. She began as a freelance reporter for newspapers and magazines, but she had a lot to learn about writing. She earned hundreds of discouraging rejections letters when she started submitting her books to publishers. Laurie started her career as a picture book writer and still enjoys writing them. Her newest picture book, The Hair of Zoe Fleefenbacher Goes to School, illustrated by Ard Hoyt, was released in 2009. Soon after its debut, this picture book became a New York Times bestseller! Laurie dedicated this book to her daughter, Meredith, who became a teacher that year.

Laurie is probably best known for her Young Adult novels. Her debut novel, Speak, was a National Book Award Finalist, a New York Times bestseller, and a Printz Honor book. Even more thrilling, Speak was quickly placed into curriculum at hundreds of middle schools, high schools, and colleges around the country. (The film version of Speak features Twilight star, Kristen Stewart, as Melinda!)  Her second YA novel, Catalyst; which received many state awards and was the American Library Association’s Best Book for Young Adults, followed three years later.  In 2005, Prom was published; this novel has a lighter subject matter than Laurie’s first two YA novels. Prom spent the spring of 2005 swishing its skirts on the New York Times bestseller list, was nominated for ALA Best Book for Young Adults, and received many state awards.  Twisted, a YA novel told from a male perspective, was published in 2007. This became Laurie’s third novel to appear on the New York Times bestseller list. It received the ALA Best Book for Young Adults award, was named to the International Reading Association’s Young Adults’ Choices List, and was voted a Teen Top Ten.  Wintergirls is Laurie’s most recent YA novel. Wintergirls debuted on the New York Times bestseller list and received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal, Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, Booklist, and Kirkus, and was the focus of much media attention for its unflinching and raw perspective on eating disorder.
Laurie Halse Anderson Bio (n.d.) Retrieved from www.madwomanintheforest.com

Critical Evaluation:  The narrator in the story of Speak is Melinda.  She doesn't speak to anyone else but she certainly talks to herself.  She has a lot to say but it all internal dialogue.  Melinda is constantly trying to think out her problems and the reader gets a first hand look at her thoughts.  " It's easier not to say anything.  Shut your trap, button your lip, can it.  All that crap you hear on TV about communication and expressing feelings is a lie.  Nobody really wants to hear what you have to say."  This quote says a lot about Melinda.  She doesn't think anyone cares.  
Melinda doesn't really say much out loud but we see her character develop through her thought process and internal dialogue.  She is a different person by the end of the book.  She keeps the rape a secret in the beginning and she has a hard time because it is eating her up inside.  Near the end of the novel, she realizes she has a moral obligation to let other girls know about her rapists.  She has grown and matured through the school year.  By the end of the year, she is on her way to healing from this tragedy that she has experienced.  My favorite part of this book is when Melinda is attacked again by "It" and she fights back.  This shows the strength she has developed.  One of my favorite quotes in the book is "I have survived.  I am here.  confused, screwed up, but here.  So how can I find my way?  Is there a chain saw of the soul, an ax I can take to my memories or fear?"


Curriculum Ties:  English and Health Education

Book Talk Ideas:  I would talk about Melinda keeping a big secret and how it affects her social life and her personal life.  

Controversial Issues:  Rape

Defense: 

*I will keep the library's selection policy on hand and memorized with a good understanding  of the standards and policies to show that the selection meets the standards. 

*I will keep good and bad reviews (both electronic and print) and make sure they are from reliable and respected sources such as School of Library Journal, Booklist, and YALSA. I will have copies of these reviews to give away. 

*I will confirm the library's position to provide intellectual freedom as stated in the Library Bill of Rights and keep a copy of this.

*I will keep a written rationale to justify the reasons this material is included in the collection, such as educational significance and curriculum ties.

*I will be respectful and calm and practice "active listening".

*I will make sure I read the material and are very familiar with it.

* I will keep a reconsideration form on file in the event that my other strategies don't work. 

Why I chose this book:  I chose this book because it was a New York Times Bestseller,  a Prinz Honor Book, and a National Book Award Finalist.   It also deals with real life issues and how a teenage girl might deal with them.