Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

** spoiler alert ** Reference information:
Title: Speak
Author: Laurie Halse Anderson
Publisher: Penguin Group Year: 1999
# of pages: 198 Genre: intense read
Reading level: 9th grade Interest level: late high school
Potential hot lava: Thoughts of suicide and rape.

General response/reaction:
This book was so moving. Yes, it was difficult to read and very intense, but it was extremely good! I sort of knew how it was going to end because I cheated and looked it up, but it was still so good to read this book. I was glad that Anderson did not go into detail about the rape because that would have been too intense for me. I liked the way she kept the narration in Melinda’s head. The dialogue in her head remained realistic because no girl would want to replay the details over and over again. This novel was amazing because Melinda grew through her tragedy. I think that this book can be very therapeutic for many students.

Subjects, Themes, and Big Ideas:

� Trust
� Friendship
� Pain
� Suffering
� Growth
� Strength


Characters:
� Melinda � main character, narrator, was raped when she was 13, goes through her first year of high school as an outcast because she cannot fully grow past the tragedy in her life, expresses herself through art
� Heather � a girl who befriended Melinda at the beginning and then blew her off at the end
� Ivy � an old friend from middle school, in art class with Melinda, at first was mad at Melinda but then warmed up to her by the end
� Rachel � Melinda’s ex-best friend, hangs out with the exchange students at school, starts dating Andy Evans (the boy who raped Melinda)
� Andy Evans � the boy who raped Melinda, has a history of doing the same thing to every girl he meets.

Plot summary:
Melinda is starting high school with all the problems imaginable. She is an outcast because she is “weird,� her friends from middle school don’t want to associate with her because she called the police that broke up a party, and the teachers are “out to get her.� At first, she befriends a girl who is new to the school, Heather. For a while, things seem to work out between the two. Unfortunately, Melinda keeps to herself all the time and barely speaks. She has a secret inside of her that torments all the words. Most of the school thinks she is weird and her parents and teachers think something is wrong with her. They think she is just being a delinquent, but there is more to the story than what Melinda lets on.

Melinda goes through the motions of school and barely passes. She makes some friends, but she is so scarred from the summer that she is still uncomfortable getting too close to anyone. Melinda does not trust anyone, nor can she trust herself. The only thing in school Melinda enjoys is her art class. She works hard all year by creating and letting her emotions flow through her art (although she does not know it at the time).

As the year goes on, she encounters the boy who raped her. He knows that he still has the power over her and continues to use it to scare her into silence. However, when Andy starts dating Rachel, Melinda cannot stand back and let Andy do the same thing to her former best friend. It takes a while for Melinda to get the courage to tell Rachel, but she finally does. Of course Rachel does not believe Melinda and she thinks that Melinda is just jealous, but Melinda at least tried. When Rachel breaks up with Andy (because he was trying to do the same thing to her as he did to Melinda), Andy becomes furious and goes after Melinda. She fights him and makes enough commotion for her friends to come back to find out what was going on and Andy gets exposed for who he really is.

Strengths (including reviews and awards):
� The book is funny.
� It is written in the mind of a teenager so it’s easy for students to relate to.
� It has won many awards (School Library Journal Book of the Year just to name one)
� It has been turned into a Lifetime movie (so students could have a visual instead of just Melinda’s thoughts.

Drawbacks or other cautions:
� There is a short section where Melinda thinks about and attempts suicide.
� It talks about at 13 year old getting raped.
� There are some parts that do not seem realistic (David suing Mr. Neck)

Teaching ideas:
Pre-reading
� Journal: What was your first year of high school like?
o Hopefully I will be teaching this book to a higher grade than freshmen, so this question would be appropriate. I would hope that I get journals that reflect on how much they have changed since that first year.
� Discussion: Cliques in high school
o What kinds of cliques exist in our school?
o Do they get special privileges?
o How can you differentiate between the cliques?
o Who decides who joins which clique?
o This could also be a journal topic

During reading
� More journaling or discussions about cliques
o How do certain cliques treat others in school?
� How does that relate to the novel?
o Have you witnessed treatment like this?
� Writing Activity (these could be quick daily journal activities)
o Inner-monologue
� Write a number of inner-monologues like Melinda does.
� Artwork
o Try to describe each section of the book in drawings
o Explain the story to someone without using words

Post-reading
� Possibly watch clips of the movie
o I haven’t seen it so I would definitely have to preview it before I showed it to the class.
� More artwork
� Compile the daily inner-monologues into a “book� like hers
� Discussion
o How has this book educated you?
� About cliques, rape, outcasts, reaching out to others
o What can we do to change the dynamic of the social scene in high school? Is there anything at all?