In works of fiction it’s common for characters to change over the course of a novel. In Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Melinda Sordino has changed a lot throughout the book. She was raped and because of this she was depressed. She never said anything about it until the end of the book. Melinda started high school off pretty badly. She was depressed and misunderstood. Her friends are ignoring her because she called the cops on the end-of-summer party. Because she is so depressed about what had happened to her at the party, she stays away from everyone and tries to avoid having conversations with them. She meets a new student and her name is Heather and they were barely friends. Melinda just basically did what Heather told her to do because