Not About Angels - Birdy (LYRICS)
Speak
by: Laurie Halse Anderson
About The Book:
Fourteen year old Melinda Sordino doesn't speak. It's not that she isn't capable of doing so, she just doesn't want to. She struggles with depression, and all of her friends won't talk to her, even the one's that she has known for over nine years; all because she busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops. Also, there is something she is hiding. Something about the night of that party that, if she admitted, would blow her carefully constructed facade to smithereens, and then then she would have no choice. Then, and only then, Mel would have to speak the truth.
The Author: Laurie Halse Anderson
Quote From Book: Insight On Melinda's Mind
"I know my head isn't screwed on straight. I want to leave, transfer, warp myself into another galaxy. I want to confess everything, hand over the guilt and mistake and anger to someone else. There is a beast in my gut, I can hear it scraping away at the inside of my ribs. Even if I dump the memory, it will stay with me, straining me. My closet is a good thing, a quiet place that helps me hold these thoughts inside my head where no one can hear them." pg.73
Man .Vs. Self
The type of conflict that occurs in this book would be man-vs-self, because throughout the book Melinda is constantly going to war with herself. Melinda doesn't talk that much at all, so people shout epithets at her all the time. She struggles with allowing herself to open up to people, even her parents, due to what happened the night of the party.
Example of the Conflict: "The salt from my tears feels good when it stings my lips. I wash my face until there is nothing left of it. No eyes, no nose, no mouth. A slick nothing." (pg.20)
Wise Words:
"Courage doesn't always roar, sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow" -MaryAnne RadMacher
Meet The Characters
Melinda Sordino
Melinda Sordino has brown hair with grey eyes, she is fourteen years old, and is struggling with depression; she is mute, lonely, and mysterious.
Rachel Bruin
Rachel Bruin is Melinda's best-friend since grade school, she is important to Melinda; but, she has now turned against her. Rachel has dirty brown hair, and brown eyes. She is cold-hearted, hateful, and compulsive.
This Is A Story About Isolation
Credits:
Created By: Alexa Redd
Class: Mrs Ramlow 2nd Hour
Song: Not About Angels by Birdy