Extra Credit Review 1: Speak

Citation: Anderson, Laurie Halse. Speak. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 1999. Print.

Annotation: An outcast without a voice, Melinda must find a way to speak up for herself and for the other girls who might suffer because of IT, before anyone else gets hurt.

Justification for Nomination:

      Anderson writes the story of Melinda, a girl who was raped and outcast from a limited first person perspective. Through this device, the reader experiences Melinda's isolation. Alone with her thoughts, removed from all possible help, Melinda must battle her fear of speaking. Melinda's loneliness and confusion resonate with adolescent readers, even if their experiences differ from those of the character. Melinda's voice is simple, but authentic. Speak may not be flashy. In many ways it reads like a teen's diary, but that is precisely why it is relevant. This work of fiction was created to mirror the real-life experiences of a teen. The pep-rallies and cutting class, the dysfunctional home- this may not be flashy, but it is real and the pain of Melinda's experience- her rape is real to many teens. Anderson does not create a flashy plot line with murder and intrigue in order to address the issue of sexual abuse. She places the experience smack dab in the middle of an ordinary teenager's life- a party on a farm, an art class, a janitor's closet- because that is precisely where these experiences take place, in ordinary life. The story does not need to take place in a back alley crime scene to be effective. In contrast, it is the normalcy, the almost boring setting that makes this story so riveting- these things happen to real people, in the midst of their every day lives and for that reason this story is indeed relevant.

     I do not believe that it is possible to write a story that every teen will embrace. While I believe and agree that a wider audience appeal is ideal and that broader relevance (particularly across genders) does attribute to the award-worthiness of a work, I believe ultimately, a work must be awarded for how powerfully and accurately it reaches readers. No work is perfect and no work will be relevant to every single reader, but some works reach their readers in such a powerful, life-altering manner that they cannot be ignored. I believe that Speak is one of these works. Speak may not reach every reader, but the readers that are effected by Speak are moved in such a meaningful way, in both their personal development and in their understanding of the world, that Speak is indeed a worthy title.

Genre: Printz Award Winner, Coming of Age, Realistic/Problem Novel, Challenged Books.