There are so many reasons I look forward to writing this column every week. I love rereading the classic YA books from my youth and remembering how awesome they are. I also adore interacting with the lovely HelloGiggles community and talking about the Important Issues, like our YA crushes. And I tend to get really excited when I come across a YA book that’s new to me. Even though Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak was published more than ten years ago and has been taught in classrooms/banned from libraries all over the country, I just read it for the first time. It’s heartbreaking, hopeful and surprisingly hilarious. I can’t believe I haven’t picked it up before.
Melinda begins her first day of high school as an outcast. No one to sit with on the bus, no one to compare class schedules with, and no one to have lunch with in the cafeteria. Melinda used to have friends, but when she called the cops on a big party over the summer, everyone turned on her. She’s a snitch, a tattletale and a bad friend.
What the kids at school don’t know is why Melinda called the cops, because Melinda won’t talk about what happened that night with anyone. She can’t tell her classmates, her teachers or her parents that she was raped.
Melinda becomes nearly mute, unable to speak about even mundane things. “It’s easier not to say anything,” she thinks. “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.” Melinda bites her lips until they’re scarred and bleeding, she gains weight and she wears baggy clothes; anything to hurt and hide herself. She doesn’t even want to look at herself in the mirror. Melinda can’t move on because she blames herself for what happened that night. She didn’t try hard enough to fight him off, she didn’t scream, she was drunk: the standard reasons many victims don’t report their rapes.
I worry that I’m making Speak sound like an overly upsetting or dark book. To be fair, it is upsetting and dark, but it’s extremely hopeful, as well. When Melinda finally has another interaction with her attacker, the scene manages to be far scarier than anything I’ve ever read in a horror story, but it’s uplifting, too. After everything she’s been through, Melinda doesn’t stay silent forever. She speaks up when it really counts, not just for herself but for all the other girls in her school.
Speak manages to be educational without ever being moralizing. As Anderson says in the afterword, she regularly hears from boys who don’t understand why Melinda is so upset about being raped. These boys aren’t trying to be jerks; they literally don’t understand why rape is so painful, why it can ruin lives, how it can shame girls like Melinda into silence (of course, boys can be sexual assault victims, too). As a society, we don’t spend much time educating boys and men about rape. Most of our resources are dedicated to telling potential victims how to avoid rape (don’t go out alone, don’t accept drinks from strangers, etc…we’ve all heard it before), while boys often don’t even learn what, exactly, constitutes rape. While this breaks my heart, I’m so glad this book exists. I’m glad it’s taught in schools around the country (when it’s not being banned, that is), because it helps us all. It helps everyone understand the hurt and shame that can come along with sexual assault, and it helps victims understand that they aren’t alone. They have a voice, and it deserves to be heard.
Some Highlights:
-Even though she can’t express her feelings verbally, Melinda finds herself in art. Much like in other books, where characters find release in photography or drawing, Melinda connects with her art as the one way she can express herself.
-Speak was made into a movie starring Kristen Stewart, who I actually really like, despite (or maybe because of?) not really being that into Twilight. Also, the movie was filmed in my town, Columbus (shout out to Ohio! I’m sorry I just said “shout out.”). Have any of you seen the movie? Does it do the book justice?
-Laurie Halse Anderson is a marvelous writer who manages to make this book funny, despite the darkest-of-dark subject matter. She describes all the little indignities of high school, from ridiculous assemblies to clueless teachers, in a sardonic, relatable way.
-If you’ve been through what happened to Melinda, don’t hesitate to check out RAINN, an anti-sexual violence organization. Please remember that rape is never, ever, ever your fault, no matter what you’re wearing, how much you drank, or how hard you fought back. It’s not something you have to keep a secret; just like Melinda, you have a voice, even if it takes a lot of courage for you to find it.
As always, I love to hear your suggestions for books you’d like to see in Young Adult Education. Find me on Twitter @KerryAnn, send me an email at youngadulteducation@gmail.com or leave a comment!
Image via Banned Reads Project
I read this book for a project in my freshman English class where we had to make a silent movie of a book be read. Needless to say, the movie was pretty awkward (we set a montage of the girl playing Melinda going into the janitor’s closet to “Bad Day” and because we had no guys in our group there were a lot of bad hair-stuffed-into-hat situations) but I remember really loving this book. Of course, it was a very intense book, but, you know, the good kind of intense that I needed to read about as a girl growing up in a super boring and safe suburban city: bad things happen to people, but life can go on no matter how hard.
Also (wow, this is getting long, sorry): I really liked the movie. Kristen Stewart, let’s be honest, is not the most dynamic actress. She has a limited range, but she uses it sooooo well in Speak. I recommend it to everyone.
my best friend and i, who are now 23, read this in the middle school when it first came out. It was amazing. Thats simply all that needs to be said about it. Well….other than the fact that I believe all 12 year old girls should be forced to read it so they can feel empowered and find some self esteem….seeing as middle school is the TOUGHEST time in a girls life. UGH it suuuuucked
I read this book about 5 years ago and I still love it! I have reread it at least 3 times! It’s a very good book. And if you ask me. The movie is pretty spot on too about the most of the book.
I am a recent high school graduate and absolutely LOVED this book all three times that I read it in the past few years. It speaks to anyone in high school going through any sort of peer pressure – not just those who are raped. I saw Laurie Halse Anderson speak at a teen lit festival in Ohio with some of my classmates and she was inspiring, hilarious and uplifting – and revealed to us that this novel was loosely based off of her own experience, a fact she claims she didn’t reveal until the past couple of years. I am truly inspired by her story as an aspiring author as well as someone who continues to deal with peer pressure and the struggle between holding things in and letting them out. Thank you for posting about this book – I think EVERY high school student should have to read it!
OMG I can’t believe it’s here on hellogiggles!! This is one of my favorite books ever!! I read it like twice a year at least! It’s the one book I always take everywhere
in fact, I am currently reading it again! I loved the movie as well, and there are a few differences but it’s ok, I love Kristen on it, she does a great Melinda. Thank you so much for this post!! 
AND, I still have this book. I borrowed it from my 9th grade teacher and forgot to give it back.
Yes, thank you for writing this article. I read this in high school and really liked it. I started reading it a few weeks ago forgot how great it was.
I read this then watched the movie, I really liked it.
I’ve never read the book, didn’t know it was one, but I have seen the film and really enjoyed it. Will have to read the book now!
I remember reading this book in high school and it was incredible. I was tearful reading this especially during the second half. Incredible and i am glad someone else acknowledged it!
I have actually been looking for a copy of this book to read because I thought the movie was so good. Thanks for writing this article and motivating me a little more to actually read the book. As you said while it’s a dark, sad story (that broke my heart a little) it’s also very powerful and it’s definitely the type of story (book/movie) that makes you stop and think. Not just about rape and the trauma of it all, but it also shows once again how you never truly know what’s going on with someone and that before judging someone’s ‘odd’ behavior it might be a good idea to find out why they’re behaving that way.
Thank you for writing this article! I’m a high school Reading teacher and I always suggest this book to my reluctant readers. Ive started the book but haven’t finished it yet! I had no idea it was a movie! I’m going to use your article in my class to get students interested in “Speak.” Thank you! Keep writing about YA! =)
I’m so excited to hear you’ll be using the article in class! Wow!
This book is really one of my all-time favorite books. Laurie Halse Anderson is an amazing writer and I would highly recommend her other books, especially the recently published (as in 2009 lol) Wintergirls, which is possibly even more heartbreaking than Speak. (It’s about a girl with anorexia.) Though I have not experienced anything as traumatic as Melinda, and had a different childhood, I still relate so much to her loneliness and isolation. It’s a fantastic book.
I have only seen the movie in bits and pieces, and while it’s not bad I think it has a sort of TV movie feel, and I think it deserves more.