Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

I feel like I have discovered a fool-proof method for choosing books to read: pick them off a list of frequently banned books. Everything that I've picked up so far this month has been phenomenal, and Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak is no exception. This book about a teenager struggling to survive in the aftermath of a sexual assault has been banned in several school districts for its uncomfortable subject matter, and it's a shame too, because it is one of the most honest treatments of rape that I have come across in literature.

Speak begins with Melinda Sordino's freshman year of high school. She is starting school as an outsider because she recently ruined an end-of-the-summer party by calling the police. Breaking up the party had serious social consequences--Melinda has lost all of her friends and has to put up with the scorn of the rest of her classmates. They throw things at her, insult her, and even become physically violent with her from time to time. No one knows the truth behind what happened at the party; Melinda called the police because she was raped by another student and didn't know what else to do. Terrified and embarrassed after making the phone call, Melinda fled the party before the police arrived. She's been keeping the assault a secret ever since, and her shame and fear over what happened are eating her alive.

 She moves through her days barely speaking to anyone and sinking into a deep depression. She loses the will to go to class, keep up with her grades, or participate in any activities. Her grades start slipping and she becomes labeled as a "troubled kid." Her parents, school administrators, and teachers don't understand what's wrong with her and she faces a barrage of well-intended, but harmful consequences, ranging from being grounded, to being lectured at, to being assigned detentions. The one bright spot in her day is her art class, where her rather unorthodox teacher encourages her to express her feelings through artwork.

Making everything harder is the fact that Melinda's rapist is a student at her high school and she is forced to see him nearly daily. He terrorizes her with leering and rude comments, acts which serve to remind her of the attack and throw her further into depression. Even worse, he begins dating Melinda's ex-best friend, forcing Melinda to struggle with her desire to keep her rape a secret. She wants to warn her former friend about this boy, but is afraid to reveal what happened.

Speak was brilliantly written, and deeply uncomfortable to read. Melinda doesn't speak much to anyone, but her inner pain cries out from every page. Anderson's depiction of her depression was realistic and heartbreaking. I wanted Melinda to be okay so badly, but at the same time, I doubted that she could ever be okay again. What makes the novel even more chilling is the fact that this story isn't just an invention designed to tug at the reader's heartstrings. Sexual assault happens to women all the time. Every day. Millions of men and women out there are suffering just like Melinda was.

Some sobering statistics are provided at the back of the novel. One in six American women will be the victim of an attempted or completed rape. Girls between the ages of 16 and 19 are four times more likely to be the victims of rape, attempted rape, or sexual assault. Most teenagers are raped or sexually assaulted by someone they know. While I know that parents want to shield their children as much as possible from the harsh realities of the world, this is an issue that can't be swept under the rug and ignored. Young girls and boys need to be educated about rape, consent, and ways to protect themselves from becoming victims. Anderson's novel does an excellent job bringing awareness to this important issue and putting a human face on a terrible crime.

It feels strange to say that I "enjoyed" a book as serious as Speak, but I did. Its realistic treatment of a difficult subject was masterfully done. Melinda's story won't be leaving my mind anytime soon. I think this book is important to the genre of young adult literature not only for its literary merit (of which it has plenty), but for its educational value. To ban this book over concerns about sexual content is counterproductive to the book's aims. Speak could easily be an accessible tool to create dialogue on the issue of rape in our society.

In the back of my edition of the novel, there is an interview with Laurie Halse Anderson. In it, she makes the following observation:

Q: Have any readers ever asked any questions that shocked you?

A: I have gotten one question repeatedly from young men. These are guys who liked the book, but they are honestly confused. They ask me why Melinda was so upset about being raped.

This question, if nothing else, points to the absolute need for young people to read Speak. We can not let a desire to protect young people lead them into the sort of ignorance that that question betrays.