I could read Speak over and over again. The same is true of many other people; there’s a reason the book is so critically acclaimed and loved. There’s also a reason it’s a popular target for book bannings. Speak is a challenging book, whether your experiences mirror those of Melinda, or whether you’re reading it as an outsider. It’s a book that changes you, a compelling story that propels itself — you want to know who Melinda is and what her motivations are, and you want to see her bloom over the course of the book.
Melinda is a teen who’s just started high school, and she’s carrying a heavy secret alluded to throughout the book and only exposed at the very end. In many senses, she appears adrift. Melinda cuts class, doesn’t particularly care
…show more content…
She’s sharp, crisp, and assertive in her own head, and she’s not snarky, but she is wry and she makes very acute observations. Melinda is a spy on high school culture and a reporter to the reader, articulating a shadowy world that sometimes seems deep under wraps.
For those who had a rough time in high school, or are having one, Speak can read almost painfully true at some points. Being lonely in a world where people are sorting out social groups and building complicated communities while you stand still is depressing, as is becoming an outcast on the grounds of petty social attitudes and beliefs about something that classmates don’t understand. Melinda is trapped in a terrible place as someone disliked for something her haters know nothing about, but someone who is aware that opening her mouth will make her equally disliked. She’s damned no matter what she does.
One of the things that makes Speak so great is its construction. It’s not a charge through familiar dull ground — we all know the story that is unfolding, and the horrors that will be revealed, but the path Melinda takes to the end is what matters, and Anderson balances it very well. This is a story that you want to read because you care about the character. And it’s also one you want to read because Anderson is a good writer, and because it’s well-written in a distinctive style that sets it