Speak
By: Laurie Halse Anderson
A Breif Summary of Speak
Speak is a book about a girl named Melinda's struggle to rebuild her life after she went to a summer party and the events that take place will drastically alter her life as she knows it. She called the cops and the party got broken up and now everyone at school hates her including all her old friends, she's all alone. Will Melinda get the strength to speak up about what really happened at that party or will she remain trapped by her own thoughts and fears.
the setting
The setting of Speak is at Merryweather High School in Syracuse, New York.
the theme/type
The theme of speak is about speaking up about sexual assault, violence, and victimization. The type of book is fiction and is written in first person point of view.
characters
melinda sordino
Melinda is a 14 year old girl that had her life turned upside down. Ever since she was raped at a summer party and called the cops she had been hated by everyone she goes to school with. She has a very low sense of self worth after what happened to her. Melinda feels like she is so alone and has nobody there for her. She is very into art even tho she thinks she sucks at it
andy evans
Andy Evans aka IT aka the beast. He is the the whole reason Melindas entire life got turned inside out. Andy Evan is extremely full of himself and thinks he can get any girl he wants whenever he wants. After he raped Melinda he continued to torment her throughout the rest of the school year.
mr.freeman
Mr.Freeman is Melindas free spirited easy going art teacher. Throughout the book he's constantly pushing Melinda to let loose and put whatever emotion she was feeling into her art. He has a a deep rooted hatred for the school board who cut his funding for art supplies. He is also the only one Melinda really seem to be comfortable being around.
heather
Heather is very self obsorbed and self centred. She's only out to further herself. When she transferred to Melindas school she become friends with Melinda but when a opportunity comes up to be in one o the elite friend groups she ditches Melinda and tell her she can't be around each other.
describe the book
Speak is emotional, touching, inciting story about a girls struggle to rebuild her life after she was raped. It shows her struggle to deal with what happened to her and he fear to speak up and tell people what really happened.
Language
The way the author wrote the book you can see what's going on in your head. It contains a lot of detail and emotion that helps you feel a connection to the characters. The used other names to describe Andy Evans such as IT or the Beast to make him seem even more sinister.