Name: Dairah Castricum
Class: 4Va
Date: 30 May 2023

Book title: Speak
Explanation of title: The main character in the book was raped by someone and she did not tell anyone. She has a very hard time in school but in the end she learned how to speak her mind.
Author, name and background: Laurie Halse Anderson is an American writer. She writes novels made for young adults. In 2010 she received the Margaret A. Edwards Award from the American Library Association. Laurie also won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award this year. Her novel speak came out in 1999 and that is her notable book. Some of her other books are: Fever, Catalyst, Twisted, Wintergirls ans Shout. All of her books are published between 1999 and 2019.

Genre(s): The novel Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson is a young adult fiction novel. It also had a lot of literature in it.

Main character: The main character in this book is a girl named Melinda Sordino. She is a teenager who struggles in her time of high school and she is the one who is very shy at the beginning but at the and she speaks.

Relation to and interaction with other main characters: Melinda is a student at Merryweather High School she has PTSD and she cannot speak out loud because of her trauma. At a party was Melinda raped by Andy. When Andy comes close to her she freezes because he was sexual abusive to her. Melinda and David are science partners and David is not afraid to speak out loud and he came up for Melinda in a social study class. Mr. Freeman is Melinda’s art teacher and he is the one who tried to help Melinda with her trauma.

Main character: Mr. Freeman is a tall, lanky and unattractive teacher at Merryweather High School he is a bit weird but in a unexpected way. He is a good teacher who truly cares about his students.

Relation to and interaction with other main characters: Mr. Freeman noticed Melinda and when she talks to him, he really listens. The art room from Mr. Freeman is a ‘Cool Central’ for Melinda. Other Students do not know how to speak to him at first but the graduating student came back to school for him.

Main character: Andy Evans is a rich and popular student who thinks he can do whatever he wants to do. He is bothering Melinda in school whenever he gets hè chance to do that. He twists her hair in the cafeteria, jumps on her desk in the art classes and ruining her work of art.

Relation to and interaction with other main characters: Andy is in the book called as ‘IT’ this is because the seems like a monster to Melinda because of what he dit to her. He harasses her every time and his presence symbolizes the knowledge of what has happened to Melinda. Later Andy begins to pursue Melinda’s ex-bestfriend Rachel, it marks a change in Melinda. She became very active in convincing the girls that Andy is dangerous. After Andy’s second attack on Melinda, she is done with him and she gets able to find her voice and she speak.

Main character: David Petrakis is a smart, brave and very outspoken student at Merryweather High School. He tries his best in school and sometimes he can be overly serious.

Relation to and interaction with other main characters: At first thought Melinda that David ignores her but in the science classes she realizes that David is more aware of her then she knows. David has also saved the class from Mr. Neck, the social studies teacher. David shows Melinda that if you speak up that it can help you to reach what you want. David his parents are very supportive to him while Melinda does not have supportive parents.

Main Themes:

• Communication, in the book becomes clear why communication is important.
• The therapeutic benefits of making art, the art class is for Melinda a ‘Cool Central’ because that is the place where she finds herself back again while making her art projects
• Effect of trauma, during the book you will see that Melinda has difficulty with concentrating and she chews on her lips, all because of her trauma.

Symbolism:

• The seed and tree, these symbols were in the art project of Melinda. It is not just a tree cause it symbolizes Melinda’s growth during the year.
• The Scarlett Letter, this novel is discussed in Melinda her class. The novel is about a women who is sent to prison after having a child. This symbolizes how Melinda is feeling at school
• The Janitor’s closet, this is Melinda her safe space in school. She got the chance to remodel the janitor’s closet so she made her own space in school. This symbolizes that Melinda wants to process her trauma by herself.

Style and tone: The book is written for victims from sexual abuse. It is a very sad book but this topic is very important. The book gives advices for girls like Melinda. Most important is to speak about what happened, otherwise the abuser stays unpunished.

Story in short: Melinda is a very shy student at Merryweather High School. She has not a lot of friends and she is not able to find the words to speak out loud. This is because she is a victim of sexual abuse by ‘IT’ she told nobody what happened to her and that is why she is traumatized. In art class she needs to make an art project with trees and seeds. During the year her art project grows and so does Melinda. After her abuser tried to attack her for the second time she is not afraid anymore and she screams for help. After that she told the people around her what happened and she speaks.

Opinion and recommendation (plus why): My opinion about this book is that it is a very sad book but about a really important topic. I think that sexual abuse is a unspoken topic while there are a lot of victims. So I think Laurie Halse Anderson did a good job to write this book. This is not the type of book I like to read bus that does not make this topic less important.