Bibliograph

Type

Label

Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographical references (p. [212])

Index

no index present

Literary Form

fiction

Main title

Speak

Oclc number

732603632

Responsibility statement

Laurie Halse Anderson

resource.studyProgramName

Accelerated Reader, Grades 9-12, 4.5, 7, SD, Quiz 32480, English fiction, vocabulary quiz available, literary skills quiz available.Accelerated Reader AR, UG, 4.5, 7.0, 32480.

Summary

Overview: The first ten lies they tell you in high school. "Speak up for yourself--we want to know what you have to say." From the first moment of her freshman year at Merryweather High, Melinda knows this is a big fat lie, part of the nonsense of high school. She is friendless, outcast, because she busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops, so now nobody will talk to her, let alone listen to her. As time passes, she becomes increasingly isolated and practically stops talking altogether. Only her art class offers any solace, and it is through her work on an art project that she is finally able to face what really happened at that terrible party: she was raped by an upperclassman, a guy who still attends Merryweather and is still a threat to her. Her healing process has just begun when she has another violent encounter with him. But this time Melinda fights back, refuses to be silent, and thereby achieves a measure of vindication. In Laurie Halse Anderson's powerful novel, an utterly believable heroine with a bitterly ironic voice delivers a blow to the hypocritical world of high school. She speaks for many a disenfranchised teenager while demonstrating the importance of speaking up for oneself

Target audience

adolescent

Classification

Creator