Tolog Review: Speak

Speak 
by Laurie Halse Anderson
reviewed by Zeyi Li

Have you been aware of the word “trauma”? Do you feel confused when you are in trouble? If so, why not choose the book Speak, which is written by Laurie Halse Anderson? It is the book which talks about a story of the character Melinda, who has the same age as me, loses her voice after being raped. She suffers from plenty of ridiculous rumors spread by her classmates, which makes her powerless. But what exactly happens to her?
Melinda plays in school musical as a Victim, which I think is her role in reality. She chooses to be silent because she wants to assuage the pain she got in that summer, which makes her become a servant of life. She cannot change anything when all her friends abandon her simultaneously, laughing at her and beginning to gossip her personal life.

I have the same kind of thought as Melinda when she says people in her new school do not know her existence while she has an excellent ability of singing and dancing. When I graduated from elementary school, I felt like all my classmates ostracized me in my new school. I even complained to my parents about how hard middle school life was, because I did not belong to any group of people. However, I became a member of a big family since I spoke up in front of people, in order to let them know more about myself.

Another thing that I am so impressive is Melinda gets an A in art every grading period, which is the only A in her transcript among all subjects. I think that must relate to her art teacher, Mr. Freeman’s encouragement while other teachers do not like her, or even ignore her appearance. 

Most of time, Melinda tries to avoid speaking, which makes her feel so thrilled. She is a sensitive girl who is eager for love. Because of large amounts of work, her parents do not even notice their daughter’s change, which is obviously teenager depression.

I was attracted by the title Speak when the first time I saw this book. After finishing it, I find the author wants to encourage us to speak more and be stronger when we have a hard time. As a motif, “Speak” is a positive attitude towards life for me. I am very sure that you will enjoy this book so much from the time you open it, and you will have your own analysis of Speak.