Speak: Task 1

Speak

Laurie Halse Anderson was born on October 23, 1961 in Potsdam, New York. She has four children and lives with her family in New York City. Speak is one of her most successful novels she writes and leverages to her break through.

It is summer-vacation. Melinda Sordino, a 13 years old girl, is at a party of a friend of Andy Evans. After half time something happened to her and she calls the police so that they all get busted, but she can’t tell them why she called the cops. Since this party Melinda speaks hardly anything and backs out. Then school starts again for her in high school. There she has no friends because everybody hates her for what she has done. Only the two schoolmates Heather and David Petrakis become friends of her. Also in school Melinda can’t speak up what she wants to except in art and all her marks are getting worse. Some time later Heather breaks off the friendship to her as Melinda would be depressive. Only David is supporting her but also say that she should come out of her by speaking. In the meantime she isn’t able to keep her thoughts for her. She wants t speak but she can’t. Only as Heather comes back to her looking for help she breaks the blockade. So she communicates by writing at a notebook with her ex-best-friend Rachel about the happenings at the party. Rachel feels very sad for her until Melinda says that Rachel’s boyfriend Andy raped her. Rachel doesn’t believe her and gets angry though she’s afraid that Melinda could be right. Soon the rumour spreads in the whole school. Consequently also Andy hears of that. The result is that he attacks Melinda and wants her to acknowledge that she has lied. Not like at the party Melinda can resist and threats him with a sharp glass “I said NO!”

My opinion about this book is that it is written a little bit too boring. It is very interesting but thrilling parts should be more detailed. Except for this it is a really good book.