Speak

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Speak

Written by:	Laurie Halse Anderson
Central Theme:
Synopsis:
First published:	October 22, 1999

Speak is an award-winning contemporary YA novel written in 1999 by Laurie Halse Anderson, an author famous for writing books of this sort. The book has been the source of some vocal Moral Guardians over the years due to some of its subject matter.

The book centers around a teenager named Melinda Sordino, who's just entered the 9^th grade. She's not exactly the most popular kid in school, due almost entirely to her calling the police at a Wild Teen Party last summer.

After the events of said party, Melinda goes from a bright, outgoing, friendly teenager to a bitter, angry, depressed one. Her grades go down the toilet, her parents are alarmed, and Melinda can't find the words to tell anyone what really happened; eventually, she stops speaking almost entirely. The plot mostly centers around Melinda's gradual decline, up until The Reveal, and then her gradual climb out of the hole.

The Film of the Book was released in 2004, starring a pre-Twilight Kristen Stewart in the lead role.

Tropes used in Speak include:

• Attempted Rape: Andy Evans tries to rape Melinda in her broom closet at the climax.
• Big Bad: Andy Evans.
• Big Damn Heroes: Sure, Melinda saved herself from Attempted Rape by scaring the daylights out of Andy Evans and holding a piece of glass to his throat, but we can't forget about the entire girls' field hockey team who broke down the door with their field hockey sticks when they heard a commotion.
• Bittersweet Ending: Melinda doesn't completely recover from her trauma of being raped and poor school performance, but she's able to break out of her shell, saves Rachel from a similar situation, has people who do care for her, regains her love for painting, and personally ends Andy's reign of terror once and for all.
• Broken Bird: Melinda.
• Cassandra Truth: When Melinda tells Rachel what happened to her. She does believe her later, though, and breaks up with Andy.
• Cool Teacher: Mr Freeman.
• Deadpan Snarker: Despite the fact that she's in the throes of depression, Melinda is this trope incarnate.
• Deconstruction: Melinda deconstructs The Daria character archetype by showing what kind of damage would have someone who acts like that, and boy it isn't pretty.
• The Dog Bites Back: At the climax, Melinda finally defends herself against Andy. "I said no." indeed.
• Dull Surprise: For good or ill, Kristen Stewart shines in this role.
• Easily Forgiven: Completely averted.
• Eating Lunch Alone
• The Eeyore: Melinda.
• Foreshadowing:
  • A very subtle example: Melinda becomes attached to a poster of Maya Angelou. Maya was raped as a young girl. It's also a stealth reference to Angelou's novel, "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings."
  • There's quite a bit of subtle foreshadowing, but it can be hard to spot until you've read the book once, like the turkey bone art.
• Former Friend of Alpha Bitch: Melinda and Rachel. Rachel does beccome less of a bitch when she learns the truth.
• Genki Girl: Heather.
• Handsome Lech: A very dark example with Andy Evans. From what the bathroom graffti saying, he basically feels up anything with two X chromosomes. He also raped Melinda, and it's revealed he assaulted many more female students.
• Hate Sink: This book runs on Teens Are Monsters, so it has the people who ostracize Melinda. Even amongst them, Andy Evans tops them all.
• Hippie Teacher: Mr. Freeman.
• "It's Not Rape If You Enjoyed It": Andy Evans pulls on her in The Climax, right before trying to rape her again.
• Jerk Jock: Andy Evans has to be one of the most monstrous examples of this trope in media.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Mr Neck is a complete dick for most of the story and treats his students with absolute contempt and sadism. But he is mostly pissed because he feels his son is being overlooked. There is also the end when he seems genuinely concerned for Melinda's well-being after making her life a misery.
• Kick the Dog: Heather's "Thanks for letting me move on to more popular friends!" Valentine. What's worse is that Melinda thought it was a genuine one. Ouch.
  • There is also Andy making crude remarks towards Melinda in the hallway. To most people, it looks like him being a Jerk Jock, but knowing what what he did...
• Laser Guided Karma: Heather basically dumps Melinda to join the Marthas. When the Marthas get sick and can't prepare the prom, and Heather asks Melinda for help. Guess what Melinda does instead.
  • Andy has his reputation (what he valued most in the world) completely destroyed by Melinda, the one whose life went to hell because of him.
• Lethal Chef: Melinda's father is implied to be one, based on the disaster with the turkey.
• Loners Are Freaks: The reason Melinda is spurned, other than the police-calling.
• Meaningful Name:
  • Melinda's last name, "Sordino", can be interpreted in various ways to mean "mute".
  • Not to mention Mr. Freeman. We shouldn't even have to explain that one.
• Motor Mouth: Heather.
• Nice Guy: Dave is one of the few students who is still friendly with Melinda and sticks by her side. Mr. Freeman also qualifies.
• Pet the Dog: Mr Neck, a complete and utter bastard for the entire story, showing genuine concern for Melinda, whom he treated terribly, at the end and calling her by her first name.
• Politically-Motivated Teacher: Mr. Neck.
• Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: This is the reason why Andy Evans is such a monster.
• Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: Melinda.
• The Reveal: Melinda was raped at the party, which was why she called the police.
• Self-Harm: One scene in the book features Melinda scratching herself with a paperclip until she bleeds.
• The Snark Knight: Melinda. In fact, she pretty much is the former trope namer Played for Drama with a Freudian Excuse.
• Silent Snarker: Melinda, given how she rarely speaks but her sarcastic side shines through all the time during her descriptions.
• Stern Teacher: Mr. Neck.
• Teens Are Monsters: Jesus, Melinda's classmates. Heather jumping ship on her, those kids at the pep rally... But the worst one is undeniably Andy.
• Valley Girl: Heather.
• Villain with Good Publicity: Andy is a popular student at school, who uses to reputation to hide he's a depraved serial rapist. His reputation gets destroyed thanks to Melinda.
• The Voiceless: The focus of the book is Melinda growing out of this.