On the 10th Anniversary of Laurie Halse Anderson's groundbreaking novel, Speak, we are all joining together to discuss this important book and the impact it has made on us and those around us.
When was the first time you read Speak? How did it affect you? Did you pass it along to friends or re-read it? Did the book mean something different to you when you read it ten years later?
Tell us your stories in the comments!
27 comments:
I just read this book in my education literacy class in college. I loved it! It is a great book for both adolescents and young adults. I will definatly be using this in my future classroom. Lindsey Short
I read speak for the first time in college. It was for a literacy class. To be honest the fist reaction I had to it at first was that I thought the characteristics of the students were a bit stereotypical. I only left highschool three years ago and the world is not really divided into Jocks, Cheerleaders, Nerds, etc. Maybe I was just lucky and my high school class was very accepting.
I also had a hard time relating to the character. I just could not understand how she could not tell anyone! I would have been running and screaming to let everyone know. I do feel compassion for her and understand I will never fully understand because i have never been in her situation.
It is also sad to think that stuff like this really does happen and that children out there really feel like they have no one to run to and tell. I would suggest this book to people and to students because maybe it would give someone the courage to speak up!
Cristina
I read Speak last year. I thought it was such an amazing book. It was hard to imagine why she didn't tell anyone and then I realized I did the same thing in college when I was attacked in a parking lot. I never told my parents, or my employer where the attack occurred. I just had him walk me to my car from then on. I told myself since I had defended myself and wasn't raped it didn't matter. Now I realize after reading Speak that man might have tried again with another more passive girl and I owed it to her to tell. That's what finally made her speak in the story too.
i read this book two years ago.
to this day, it's my favorite novel.
ive never gone through anything like melinda has,
but... i know what it's like to never
want to say anything at all.
a lot of times, there's no particular reason.
but i just find it hard to speak sometimes.
but this book means so much to me;
i dont even know what to do about it-
it means too much, hah :]
uhm...
about two months ago, one of my friends ran away from his house because he was so frustrated that child services did not believe him after confessing that his father had molested him. all he took was his phone, and was texting me and three other friends the entire time he was missing. his other friends all spoke about it among each other, but i never did. they didnt know me. my own circle of friends didnt even know anyone was missing, nevermind about me knowing him. he was found, and lives in a foster home now. it took me over a month to tell my best friend about the entire incedent.
i dont know why.
I absolutely love this book and recommend it to teenagers who claim that "they don't like to read." Everytime I give this book to a teen to read, they end up loving it and can relate to the whole "high school" scene. I love how the book is comical in its sarcastic way but it is also obviously painful for Melinda to not be able to talk about what happened. I love the movie adaptation as well. After the teens read the book I give them the movie and they are very surprised and love it!
I read this book for a literacy class in college and I think it is a great read for young adults. I think that rape is an issue that should be put out there because it happens and it should be talked about. Young adults should know it's an issue and know that it's okay to tell someone. I think it would be great in a literature class, but since I'm teaching Math, I probably won't use it in my classroom!
Speak has made it clear that you cannot keep untold stories inside you for they only keep pain in and depressiion out.
I have a familiar story like Melinda.
It's true and it can happen to you.
*Student*
I absolutely loved Speak. I believe that everyone can relate to it in some way. I will definitely have Speak in my classroom library for my students read. It definitely a story that every future teacher needs to read so that we can look out for students like Melinda.
Speak is my favourite book. I'm about Melinda's age, and her story is incredible. LHA did everything right in it. She showed Melinda's pain in the right amount, without giving it all away. Everyone should read this book. I also enjoyed hearing what she thought, I would certainly join her anti-cheerleader clan :) Her sarcasm and stuff I can relate to.
I also loved the movie. Kristen Stewart played Melinda perfectly.
I read this book in a Literacy Developmet class in college and really enjoyed reading it. As I read this book, all I could remember was how my high school career had played out. In this book Melanie felt and was an outcast. I think this is a good book for a teacher that teaches in high school and for students that are at this age. This book gives the teacher a view into the teenager mind and life, so they can understand what students deal with at during this time of their life. The book also gives something that the students can relate too. High school is a hard time in a teenager's life. I feel like this book would be good to help them have a connection to something.
Megan Treadwell
when i read speak it really touched me. I wasnt raped but i know someone who was, when they told me wat happened, i was just silent. i didnt no what to say or how to react to such a thing.
The only way i could have understood was if i put her promblems and connected them with mine, like our family problems or stress.
But i always listened i never turned away from her or said anything negative only positive, and tell her what to do or talk to someone.
But then i thought i just read SPEAK, and that realted to her really well. I told her about the book and said that she should give it a chance because it helps knowing someone or to relate to what they are going threw.
She gave it a try and when she was doen reading it she came and told me, and talked about how there problems were almost exactley the same.
All she could say was thank you so much for helping me, now i feel like i can go talk to my mother or counsluer about what happened and actually feel like i can talk about it.
that really touched me and i felt like i can talk to anyone and help them out with there promblems.
=)
=)
i read the poem you wrote from all the letters you got
and i thought that was one of the best poems i read i can really relate to the one pharse that says i wasnt raped but my dad a drunk my family is spliting up and im looseing my house that is like what is happening to me
Christa Jones said...I read this book for an literacy eduaction class and this book was well written. I think that it paints a perfect picture of what high school is like today. I would incorporate this book into my curriculumn.
speak is my favorite book. i read it for the first time last year, and it still has the same effect on me now as it did then, even though i have read it dozens of times.
nothing like melinda's situation has happened to me, but i just found out a few weeks ago that one of my best friends was raped as a child. i couldn'tsay anything either. i wanted to scream, to cry, to puke. It makes me mad, to think that guys can just take someone's body, and use it, abuse it, like it's a plaything.
it helps that melinda's relatable. Kids can relate to the clique system of high school, missing being a little kid, hating home life, impossible teachers, and the issues that come with valentine's day, prom, and homecoming. And she does it all with a funny, sarcastic, dark wit.
fantastic book. great read for anyone and everyone.
I just finished speak and i loved it so much!! Melinda had the courage to learn form the experience of her being raped by Andy she stood up to him and that is truly amazing. I still have loads of questions like did she and Nicole become friends again, what happened to Andy, did Melinda have a better relationships with her parents? It is such a good book my mom is now going to read it after she is done with it we are going to watch the movie!!=D
-Ana
I finished reading speak just a couple of months ago with my school's book-club. I think it was an awesome book, even though I'm just in middle school. I would recommend this book to EVERYBODY!!!!
This book is amazing! It just made me think about how people treat others because they have to to be in the "in" crowd. I highly recommend this book.
it was a good book
My school had to read this book for a book club. I saw the movie before I read the book but I thought the book captured the concept way better than the movie. This novel could help anyone get through rough times. The way Melinda opened up at the end was really great and it showed how strong she had to be to get through the year. I was really amazed at how well the book turned out to be. I definitely would recommend this book to anyone! x]
I personally think this book is great. I read it with my school book club and we all liked it. I believe it teaches you to understand others, not judge and if you have a friend that it seems that something is wrong ask. You can help out many people just by asking. Another thing is that you should never keep something locked up, all it is going to do is torment you more and more every day. There are people out there that can actually help you out with this type of situations. We can overcome anything we want. Finally, I strongly recommend this book to everybody.
-J.L :]
I've noticed that I happen to stumble on books with similar themes at the same time, and that's what happened last year when I read "Speak"; I also read Margaret Atwood's "Handmaid's Tale", and the combo of the two really got me thinking about gender and society, personal expression, and women's rights. I loved the character's honesty and her wry sense of humor. It's a definite must read for girls.
I saw the movie yesterday after hearing reviews of how great Kristen was in it. And after seeing it I went out and bought the book finishing it that same night.
I see a lot of myself in Melinda. Back in junior high and high school I was the 'shy one.' The one that hardly ever spoke or talked to anyone. I was so scared that no one would listen to what I had to say, nor would they even care. I sat alone during lunch and in high school avoided the cafateria as much as I could. I wasn't a part of the popular crowd, the athletic crowd, the cheerleader crowd, the party crowd, or even the smart overacheviers crowd. I was all by myself. I had friends, but they came and went like the seasons. I never did get the chance to 'speak' out. If I had read your book back then, I know it would have given me the confindence to. In 1999 I was a 9th grader just like Melinda. But now I'm a much older, wiser person and with time have slowly learned to break out of my shell, but reading this book has made want to break out even more and in ways of maybe helping others. I'm a teacher and even though I don't teach high school kids, I want to take the message of 'speak' and presents to my students. If I give them the power to speak at a early age then maybe, just maybe they can avoid the pain that Melinda and so many of us had to deal with.
Thnks Laurie for writing such an amazing book. This story doesn't just apply to teenagers, but I think it goes beyond generations. Anyone who has delt with pain in their lives and the unablility to speak about it can relate and maybe even find a piece of Melinda in themselves.
I first read it in Middle School and thought it was pretty amazing. I could definetely relate to Melinda, feeling like an outcast and everyone you know changing beyond recognition. I went through bullying when I was younger and managed to speak out about it, but there are so many kids who don't have the confidence to do so. This book should be introduced to classes to give kids the help they need to get through bullying and other painful experiences.
The movie is really good too, one of Kristens best performances. Really worth a watch.
I first read Speak the summer before seventh grade. Never has a book, in turns, so touched me, so terrified me, so comforted me as much as Speak has. Years later, I'm now going to be a freshman in college, and my copy of Speak is like an old friend, worn out and dog-eared. This book changed my life. It made me wise throughout high school, taught me to be smart at parties, and also taught me compassion to everyone who seems clanless, because I know we've all been there. Thank you Laurie.
I bought the book, but kept the old one. The old, worn, tattered pages of the original Speak.
I ripped that poem from the pages of that new book. The anniversary edition,
I take that poem everywhere I go.
That poem is everything I feel.
Thank you, Laurie.
Honestly, thank you.
- Katelyn
I'm a middle school language arts teacher. After reading the book years ago, I made my then middle school age daughter read it. It is, to this day, one of my/our favorite books. "Me: Let me tell you about it." Speak is an incredible read. I recommend that every girl (and guy) read it. Our school library doesn't have very many copies, so I buy my own copies to share and they become worn and tattered from use. A true testament of a good book.
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