1. Anderson, L.
H. (1999). Speak. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux.
Challenged Book Category
2. Summary: Laurie Halse Anderson’s brutally honest
and chilling novel, Speak, describes
the story of Melinda, a high school freshman, who is raped at a party but does
not speak out much later until a new “friend” confronts Melinda about her
ongoing silence and her attacker tries to hurt her again. Melinda also deals
with the woes of high school while trying to make sense of her traumatic
situation – the coming and going of friends, feeling unloved and ignored, and
learning to deal with teenage emotions and feelings. She is faced with the
challenge of telling why she called the police at a summer party or staying
silent. While quiet, Melinda endures the shunning of classmates and ex-best
friends, and this is all at the beginning of her first year of high school. She
loves art, and with the help of her caring art teacher, Melinda learns to speak
out and up about what happened to her the night of a summer party before her
life was turned upside down.
3. Critical Analysis: On
a personal note: I am a Laurie Halse Anderson fan. I have read many of her
novels, and Speak has been sitting on
my classroom shelves for years – yet I have never read it. I have to admit; I
was a bit afraid to read about such a dark subject, and I like dark subjects. I
think I thought it was going to hit a bit close to home for me or for some
people I know. I loved this book. I am so glad I can now say I have read it.
Students have borrowed this title from me frequently, and now I know why.
Halse Anderson
writes Melinda’s story from the first-person point of view, and this is
effective in getting her deeply personal and emotional story across to the
reader. Many parts are written like diary entries. The author uses very vivid
imagery and much symbolism to accomplish the description of the main character’s
pain and how deep it goes. Publishers
Weekly claims, “Anderson uses keen observations and vivid imagery to pull
readers into the head of an isolated teenager.” The story combines humorous wit
with heart-breaking metaphors, which are both effective in giving the story a
deep meaning but not allowing it to get too heavy at the wrong times.
A few of the
awards this challenged book has won are the Printz Honor Book (2000), National
Book Award Finalist (1999), ALA Top Ten Best Book for Young Adults, and Publishers
Weekly Best Book of the Year, (to name just a few).
The author’s
style is enticing right from the first page. The novel is divided into the four
marking periods of the high school academic year, and Anderson’s simple,
somewhat choppy sentences in the first chapter about the beginning of high
school gain readers’ attention because it is relatable. It sounds like a
first-person account of school, as it should. Intermittent, single sentence
paragraphs such as, “I am an Outcast” are powerful and effective. The author
has a true perspective of a teenager’s feelings. Anderson also adds in lists of
things that Melinda, the main character, thinks of as the school year goes on
such as, “The First Ten Lies They Tell You in High School,” (my favorite because
they are so true), and “Guys to Stay Away From,” which will hold the reader’s
interest because they are a break from the standard paragraph in a novel. Melinda
use of sarcastic nicknames for her teachers versus their real names such as
“Mr. Neck” and “Hair Woman” continue to add to the authenticity of Melinda’s
teenage voice.
On most
websites, such as Amazon and Barnes and Noble, Speak is recommended for ages 12/13 and up. It contains content
that would be helpful for students nearing high school age or in high school,
but please be aware that the content is deep and about a girl’s struggle with
balancing daily life after rape. In November of 1999, CNN reviewed the book and
wrote, “If you’ve been through years of therapy trying to suppress torturous
memories of your isolated, clique-less, academically unsuccessful high school
years, and have beaten back memories of attending prom stag, awakening to the
sound of the cool kids egging your house, and being tripped in the hallways by
snot-nosed upstarts a year behind you don’t read “Speak.”…..For the more
sensitive among you who suffered the kind of off-handed cruelty that is a
hallmark of the teen years, it may be too much.” This novel should be read with
that statement in mind; however, even if a person is or was popular in high
school, this book can make someone see the world from someone else’s
perspective. It is simply powerful and will more than likely affect all who
read it.
Some reviews out
there have stated that the symbolism can get deep and a bit obscure, but I think
that is the point. The emotions and feelings that Melinda goes through are so
far-reaching and painful that Anderson’s use of symbolism and word choice
envelop the reader in imagery and make him or her really think about the
subjects and themes at hand. The symbolism and descriptive diction allow the
reader to be truly affected up until the very last page of this powerful,
coming-of-age, realistic story.
References
Matson, N. (1999, November 29). Review:
Book recalls the tumult of the teen years. Speak
by Laurie Halse Anderson. Retrieved from
http://www.cnn.com/books/reviews/9911/speak/.
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