Anderson, Laurie Halse: Speak
Speak (1999)
Written by: Laurie Halse Anderson
Genre: YA/Fiction
Pages: 224
This is not the typical sort of YA that I read. When I read YA, I tend to gravitate towards the genre stuff, but I heard this book was so powerful and so -- well -- necessary that I didn't see how I could pass it up.
The premise: Melinda Sordino has started high school off on the wrong foot. Her former friends refuse to speak to her, and people who don't even know her are giving her the evil eye. She can't explain why she busted up that party over the summer by calling the cops. Not to her former friends, not to her teachers, not to her parents, and really, not even to herself. If she does, that means she has to accept the truth, and by doing that, everything she knows will fall apart. So she retreats deeper and deeper and deeper into herself, and she won't stop until someone or something thing forces her to speak.
Review style: this is a book that I can't discuss without referring to spoilers, and for better or for worse, I knew those spoilers before I ever picked up the book, so it influenced my reading. This review will be of the original, regular sort in which anything behind the cut is ripe for spoilers, so if you don't want to be spoiled, just don't click behind the cut.
So yes, spoilers ahoy!
The reason this book even remotely landed on my radar was because a friend of mine emailed me and asked if I knew of any books that dealt with date rape. Not rape, per say, but actual date rape. I didn't have a clue, so I asked around on the Children's/YA forum of the SHU Writing Popular Fiction Board, and the readers there recommended this book multiple times.
Because that's Melinda's secret: the reason she called the cops at the party wasn't to bust up a party at all, but rather because she was raped while there and was seeking help.
To be honest, this isn't really the kind of book I can really review, because I'm not looking at it in terms of story or even literature. It's not something I can critique. Rather, Speak is an experience, a very necessary one, for both teens and parents alike. Teens because it's important to know what silence can do to a person, and parents because it's important to really know how to communicate with your kids. Yes, parents want to protect their children no matter what the cost, but you can't protect them 24/7, so it's important to learn how to talk to them and to teach them what appropriate behavior is and what appropriate behavior is not.
I'm not a parent. Not yet. It could happen one day, and this is the kind of book that really makes me wonder about what I'll say to my own children one day.
For example: if I had a daughter, I'd want to raise her in such a way that she knows and understands the importance of her body so that if she is -- god forbid -- violated, she understands what's happened and why she needs to tell someone, especially the authorities. It would break my heart if I had a daughter who went through such a traumatic experience and she didn't tell me and I couldn't recognize the warning signs (in terms of realizing that just because my kid's grades are sinking faster than the Titanic and she's withdrawn from pretty much everyone and everything doesn't mean she's out to piss me off, but she's reacting to something that's happened, you know?). And if I had a son, you can bet your ass I want to make sure he understands that a girl's body belongs to no one but herself, and that body deserves respect, and sex isn't NOTHING even though the media treats it such.
The latter is what gets to me. The edition I picked up isn't the ten-year anniversary edition but the platinum edition, and it contains an interview with the author in the back. One of the things that constantly mystified her was having boys come up to her not understanding why Melinda was so upset at having been raped. That's mind-blowing! And if I have a son, I don't want him to be one of those guys who doesn't get it.
One of the saddest things about this novel is that it really is a reflection on our society and how parents/teachers/etc are afraid about talking about the stuff that really matters. In my mind, and this is my opinion, boys and girls need to understand their bodies and they need to understand how to be respectful of each other and why. I don't have a problem with sex in and of itself, provided the two involved are both willing and have some idea of what they're getting into, but rape is a serious subject that for whatever reason, people just don't want to talk about, especially when it really, really matters.
Melinda's journey towards healing is an interesting one, and really, I can't pinpoint a turning point because everything happens so organically. It's almost a metaphorical healing, that once spring arrives and new life begins, Melinda's attitude starts turning around and she starts to come to terms with what happened and starts to take control. Sure, it's too late for her failing grades, but by the end of the book, you get the impression that once this year is over, she's going to get back on her game. The book is packed with symbolism, from the tree she's got to create to the frog she and her lab partner have to dissect to the seeds she learns about in biology. And it's ironic too, considering the moment in the book where a student in her English class argues with the teacher about the symbolism of The Scarlet Letter. I remember thinking those same thoughts back when I was in high school, only for Wuthering Heights. :)
My Rating
Must Have: At any rate, the book is solid and important. Like anything that should be considered literature, I think it transcends labels like "good" or "bad." It's just a book that teens should definitely read (no doubt, Melinda's experience of high school is relative, though I question if current teens, who have their cell phones on them 24/7, can truly appreciate the limitations of teens back in the late nineties, when this book was written), and for that matter, their parents should read it with them. The point isn't to judge Melinda's behavior, but to try and empathize with her. If you don't already know her secret when you start reading, start asking yourself what could happen that could make someone feel that the way Melinda does. If you do know her secret, really pay attention. I feel this book really speaks to the truth of Melinda's situation on so many levels, and it's important to empathize with her, to understand why people like her act the way they do. Bottom line, it's just an important book, one that makes me consider what it means to be a parent (whenever that day comes) and one that reminds me of how completely desperate and scary it is to be a teen, even if you don't have something like Melinda's secret weighing you down.
Cover Commentary: my version is the platinum edition, which features a girl's face hiding behind a tree, but it's cropped (the 10th anniversary edition shows a full face with the tree in the middle). It's lovely and tasteful and completely appropriate for the content of the book and its symbols. It definitely caught my eye in the store long before I ever knew what this book was about.
Next Up: Generation Loss by Elizabeth Hand