Speak

Anderson, L.H. (1999). New York, NY: Square Fish.

Melinda Sordino, a fourteen-year-old freshman who lives in Syracuse, New York, was raped at a party over the summer.  No one knows about this incident except her and the rapist, who goes to school with her and who she, unfortunately, encounters at school regularly.  She goes through the school year depressed and nearly mute as a result of the rape.  Her parents and school administrators try to intervene after her behavior and poor academic performance concern them, but their efforts fail.  When she eventually lets out just a small bit of information, she finds that she's not alone as the rapist's victim.  This knowledge empowers her to find her voice, which becomes extremely important when she gets attacked by the same person again.

I hope Anderson paved the way for more authors to write about this important topic.  I think this book will appeal to a variety of audiences but particularly teenage girls and I would recommend it for readers ages 12 and older.  As someone who has taught sixth graders for ten years, I feel that only a small number of 12 year old girls would be mature enough to handle this book's content.  It's easy to see why this title was a finalist for the National Book Award. The character's internal conflict propels this story along.  The reader is desperate to know if Melinda will ever tell about the rape.  Anderson, much like her character Melinda, keeps mum about the incident until just the right moment.  The voice in which Melinda narrates the story is mostly what's going on inside her head since she doesn't speak and because of that sometimes has a stream of consciousness-type quality.