Speak

Speak

This week I decided to pick up a book that I had heard a lot about. Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson. The book starts out with the introduction of main character, Melinda Sordino, a freshman with an enormous secret weighing on her shoulders. Taking place at Merryweather High School in Syracuse, New York, Melinda is constantly feeling guilty and in constant pain. She resorts to ditching school and hiding in an abandoned janitors closet. Self-harming is the least of her problems.

    She attended a party in the summer before she had begun high school, and it was quite intense. There were several upperclassmen along with readily available alcohol and drugs. She was having an amazing time at the party, until she met a boy. It may sound like your typical love story, but it's the complete opposite. Wildly desired Andy Evans, had approached her at the party. Feeling excited and intoxicated, the two went into the woods to speak together, and that led into Andy showing his true colors. Melinda had been raped by him, and she was too drunk to understand what was happening to her.

    Melinda finally realized what was happening in the woods, and was barely able to get away from him. So it wasn't a surprise when Melinda called the police. The authorities shut down the party, and everyone knew that Melinda was to blame.

    Melinda had lost a significant amount of friends due to the incident at the party, although nobody knew that she had been raped there. Her only friend is a new student named Heather, and she is constantly trying to get Melinda back into the loop, so that she gains some popularity. Melinda doesn't want this, and constantly tries to get out of seeing her old friends and Andy. So, she skips school.

    Her guidance counselor is quite worried about her and persists in asking Melinda what had caused her grades to drop so much. After awhile, she finally admits to herself that she was actually raped. It took her so long to realize it, but now it would be easier. She started to open up to several more people about her experience at the party. She speaks up (the title made sense at this point) about everything, and fights for herself, along with several other girls that Andy had played with as well.

    I think what I really enjoyed about this novel was that it was extremely modern. Thousands, possibly millions, of women all over the world are sexually abused and raped. It was a truly impactful novel, and quite relevant in today's times. I believe that if the novel gains popularity, it will be read by more, which means that more scared women will gain the inspiration to speak up about their situations and realize that by opening up to someone, they are not weak at all. They are actually significantly stronger. It was quite an interesting novel and I would definitely recommend it to young adults.

Above you are able to see the statistics of rape in each country. It is quite horrific to see that America is one of the darkest shaded countries, meaning people are more likely to be raped in America than almost any other country.