Laurie Halse Anderson Sparknotes

Speak Essay Books can have a massive impact on one’s life. The novel, Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson is a book about a girl named Melinda. Throughout the book, it’s made obvious that Melinda has major issues caused by trauma. This is made obvious through the fact that she has no friends, she’s extremely insecure, and the negativity in her head is made clear through the effect it has on her body. Towards the end of the book, it’s found out that Melinda’s issues come from when she was raped at a party by a boy named Andy Evans. At the end of the book, Melinda was able to speak out on what happened to her and change her outlook on life and the way she coped with her trauma. Speak is a favorable book because many people who have gone through similar

This may be relatable for some people because sometimes people have so much emotion built up inside them. They cut themselves to feel in control, and to relieve themselves of their stress. It may comfort people to know this about Melinda, just so that they know that they’re not alone. Tough times will always be easier when people know that they are not going through things alone, and there are so many people who know and understand what they're experiencing. It’s important that when a writer writes about a sensitive topic, they don’t over-dramatize or sugarcoat the topic they’re writing about. The book Speak does this perfectly. The author of Speak can talk about sensitive topics like sexual assault, and self harming with a perfect balance of all the things needed to create a respectful, realistic story, about certain sensitive topics. Around the end of the book, Melinda experiences a lot of self-doubt over what she experienced the night of that summer party: “Was I raped?” (164). Even though it’s clear that Melinda was raped, she still feels uncertain if what happened to her was a