I didn’t read Speak when it first came out. I had been out of high school for almost 15 years by that time, so I missed the opportunity to read it as I didn’t read Speak when it first came out. I had been out of high school for almost 15 years by that time, so I missed the opportunity to read it as a student. But because a small yet ridiculously noisy minority of activists have challenged it (among so many other books, which I would suggest are mostly being challenged without having been read), I thought I should have a look and see what the gripe was. As usual, the challenges are based on nonsense.
Melinda is starting high school under a cloud. She experienced profound trauma during the summer between middle school and high school. As if being a freshman isn’t difficult enough without outside issues, she is shellshocked and nearly mute, and her fellow students have preconceived notions and grudges, so she’s a prime target for abuse.
The source of the trauma is pretty evident from the outset, from context and from the clues liberally sprinkled throughout the setup. The specifics become clearer and clearer to the reader as Melinda assesses and addresses them. This is short, powerful, relevant, and utterly necessary as a story.
Now, as to the challenges. I can thoroughly understand why some adults might find this objectionable; it is painfully accurate as to teens� problems and as to how clueless some adults become as soon as they’re out of that phase of life. Seeing yourself depicted so accurately, in such cutting prose, has got to sting like a whip crack.
Not all of the adults in Melinda’s story are foes and/or idiots. Some are actively attempting to bring her out of herself, and help her bloom. However, Melinda’s parents rail at her about her “attitude problems� and poor grades, and argue with each other over and around her, but never take the briefest moment to consider that this formerly well-behaved, content and conscientious student must have a reason for changing so profoundly in such a short time. Her principal can’t even be bothered to remember her name, even when she’s sitting in his office with her parents, and many of the teachers are more interested in coddling the football players than in noticing the quiet girl who is being bullied pretty much non-stop.
If the complaints are based on other adult content of a more personal nature (trying not to be spoilery here), that’s much more troubling, because if the complainers perceive that content as “salacious� it says something much more sinister about the complainers than about the text. Folks might want to have a talk with themselves if they view it as anything other than traumatic. ...more
Nadia has spent her whole life in an insular community called Canaan. Everyone has a skill and everyone has a book they keep with them at all times. TNadia has spent her whole life in an insular community called Canaan. Everyone has a skill and everyone has a book they keep with them at all times. The books are completely indispensable, you see, because, every twelve years, everyone forgets everything about their lives and has to start all over again.
But, the thing is, Nadia hasn't forgotten. This is information that will endanger her if it's discovered by the wrong people. This being the first book in a series, I assume I'm not spoiling anything for anyone if I say that her secret doesn't remain her own for too much longer.
As you might expect, all is not as it seems in Canaan. Are the residents of this walled village really all alone in the world? Are the walls keeping danger out, or hemming residents in?
I experienced this on audio, and I enjoyed it immensely. Therese Plummer has a great narration style and does the different characters' voices beautifully, such that I never had to wonder which of them she was trying to portray - it was always crystal clear.
I'm now very much looking forward to The Knowing; I'm excited to see what happens next for the characters I've come to care about in Canaan....more
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