Speak By Laurie Halse Anderson

Speak is about a girl named Melinda Sordino, who begins her high school career by calling the cops at a party. All of her friends desert her, and she is left with no one. Her parents are not involved in her life, and she is left to cope on her own. No one bothers to ask why she called the cops. She befriends a new girl named Heather, who tries to get Melinda to come out of her shell. Melinda finds a abandoned closet, where she goes throughout the book to cope with her life. She also throws herself into art, with her crazy teacher. The art ends up being her outlet, because she is not talking about what happened at the party. Heather eventually abadones her too, and you begin to figure out what happened at the party. One of her ex-friends begin to date a senior, and Melinda feels that she must finally "speak" about what happened. She was raped by Andy Evans at a party when she was drunk. She tries to warn her friend, but Rachel will not believe her. Melinda finally realizes that staying silent, and hiding is not doing her any good, and goes to clean out her closet. She is attacked again by Andy, but fights back this time, and finally yells, "NO"! She regains some of her friendships in the end, and gains a new respect for a teacher.

I feel like the book discussed a situation that is more common than we think. The author really captured the emotion, and thoughts of a high school girl who was raped. I had a very close relationship with my mother, but most houses are just like Melindas. Parents are both working, and the teenager is left to cope on their own. Or, the teenager doesn't feel like they can talk with their parents. I didn't fully understand the title until the end. I thought it meant that she was refusing to talk about the situation, and so no one knew what happened. I realized at the end, it meant that she wanted to speak up that night, and didn't. I read this book in two sittings. I couldn't put it down.