Young Adult Literature - Speak

Anderson, L.H. (1999).  Speak. New York: Penguin.

Speak follows Melinda Sordino through her freshman year of high school.  The summer before, Melinda and her friend Rachel went to a party where a senior, Andy, rapes her.  Melinda calls 911, but is unable to tell them what is wrong.  When the police break of the party, the students blame Melinda and she becomes an outcast at school.  She even loses her friend, Rachel.  As the school year progresses, Melinda keeps her secret and slips further into depression.  She begins skipping classes and hiding in an abandoned janitor's closet which she fixes up as her own hideout.  When her former friend, Rachel, begins dating Andy she feels she must warn her about him.  She writes Rachel a note, but Rachel is angry and doesn't believe her.  She eventually realizes that Melinda is telling the truth and breaks up with Andy.  At the end of the school year, Melinda goes to the janitor's closet to collect her things, and Andy corners her.  He attacks her, but Melinda breaks a mirror and holds a shard of glass up to him.  Fortunately, some other students hear her screaming and come to her rescue.  Melinda begins to come to terms with what happened to her and she becomes a hero at school.

I really enjoyed this book.  I liked the way the book was divided up by the grading periods.  Melinda has an authentic voice in the book and the reader can't help but like her and feel sorry for her.  She doesn't know how to cope with her life, but she eventually learns how to express herself and come back from her depression.  I loved the ending, though I felt that, unfortunately, I think it was not totally realistic.  I think that in many schools, many students would take Andy's word over Melinda's and say that she made it up, or that it was consentual.