Speak

     Melinda has a secret that she won't tell anyone.  This secret is an anchor that weighs her down physically and mentally.  Because of this secret, Melinda enters her freshman year of high school, selectively mute and disregards her physical appearance.  People that she used to be friends with now shun her, and she is outcast in the high school world.  Laurie Halse Anderson drags the reader along this suspenseful journey, dropping little clues here and there about what happened to Melinda.  There was a summer party, cops were called, kids got in trouble, and somehow Melinda was responsible.  High school is the predominant setting for the book and Anderson uses marking periods to break down the story's parts.  It isn't until the end of the third marking period, when Melinda flashes back to that summer night, that the secret is revealed.  Melinda was raped by an older boy at the party.   In shock, Melinda called the police but couldn't speak about what happened.  Partygoers saw Melinda on the phone, cops arrived at the scene to break up the party, and blame was placed on Melinda, even though she was the victim of a crime.
     Originally published in 1999, Speak was a game-changing novel for young adult literature.  It didn't pull any punches examining the post traumatic effects of a young rape victim nor did it sugar coat the impact of how high school kids treat each other.   Melinda habitually bites her lips - "I push my ragged mouth against the mirror.  A thousand bleeding, crusted lips push back" (Anderson, pg. 125) - and acknowledges, "I know my head isn't screwed on straight.  I want to leave, transfer, warp myself to another galaxy.  I want to confess everything, hand over the guilt and mistake and anger to someone else" (Anderson, pg. 51).  Because the student body knows Melinda made the phone call that alerted police to the party, she is ostracized by her peers.  Kids throw food at her in the cafeteria, her former best friend mouths, "I hate you" (Anderson, pg. 5), and she is verbally and physically harassed at the pep rally.  A female student says to her, "My brother got arrested at that party.  He got fired because of the arrest.  I can't believe you did that.  Asshole," (Anderson, pg. 28).  As Melinda sits on the bleachers, this female student jabs her knees into Melinda's back and pulls her hair.  The only place where Melinda finds solace is in an old janitor's closet.   It is her haven and she goes there to avoid classes, lunch, and sometimes, even home.
     What was saddest to me was that Melinda could not confide in her parents.  Anderson portrays the parents as unavailable and detached from their daughter's life.  Melinda relays this information:  "My family has a good system.  We communicate with notes on the kitchen counter.  I write when I need school supplies or a ride to the mall.  They write what time they'll be home from work and if I should thaw anything.  What else is there to say?" (Anderson, pg. 14).  As the Christmas holiday approaches, Melinda reflects, "I bet they'd be divorced by now if I hadn't been born.  I can't believe we have to keep playacting...It's a shame we can't just admit that we have failed family living..." (Anderson, pg. 70).  Her mother is wrapped up in her job running a clothing store and can be cold to Melinda.  Melinda purposely cuts her arm with a paperclip and her mother responds, "I don't have time for this, Melinda," (Anderson, pg. 88).  Her father is also presented as oblivious to her problems.  When the guidance counselor calls them in to discuss Melinda's poor grades, instead of trying to solve the problem, her father engages in finger pointing.  "Well, something is wrong.  What have you done to her?  I had a sweet, loving little girl last year, but as soon as she comes up here, she clams up, skips school, and flushes her grades down the toilet.  I golf with the school board president, you know," (Anderson, pg. 115).  Recently I read If I Stay and the and the contrast between the two female characters was stark.  In If I Stay, the main character, Mia Hall, had a supportive and loving family.  Mia struggled with the decision to end her life, but she had family and friends surrounding her with love.  Her own grandfather whispered that he would accept and understand whatever choice she made.  Melinda had no confidante.  She was all alone.
     Before beginning this reflection, I listened to the NPR interview with Professor Anne Trubek.  She is a professor of English at Oberlin College and she asserts that high schools should stop teaching Catcher in the Rye and replace it with a more contemporary novel.   I have conflicting thoughts on this idea.  Students will become more engaged with reading if there are topical situations they can relate to.  However, I think that educators are sometimes quick to jump the gun and declare that a hot book is indeed a "classic".  Frequently, a book will pop up on the scene and be all the rage among adolescents and teens.  But will it have staying power over the course of seven years?  Fifteen years?  While I can appreciate Professor Trubek's thoughts, I shudder to think that I might teach the Twilight saga because
teens find it desirable since they are interested in the vampire/werewolf love triangle.   One solution would be to pair the "older" classic with a newer classic.  In Speak, Melinda's English class studies The Scarlet Letter.  I wonder if Anderson engaged in a bit of metafiction by choosing that novel.  Both Melinda and Hester Prynne were pariahs in their respective communities and both were consumed by shame, guilt, and anger.  I think there could be fascinating and insightful discussions if students were asked to find parallels between older and newer classics.  Young adults might even discover that certain character traits, conflicts, themes, and moods are timeless and can be integrated into a novel of any time period.  Since I teach younger age students, I would not use Speak in my classroom as part of the curriculum.  However, I would keep a copy in my class library and certainly encourage mature students to read it if they showed an interest.