“Speak,” is a novel by Laurie Halse Anderson. The setting is in Syracuse, New York in the early 2000’s. Melinda Sordino is the narrator of the story and is a freshman at Merryweather High School. During the summer before her freshman year, she goes to a party with her close friends filled with alcohol and music. At the party, she drinks many beers and becomes intoxicated. While she’s drunk, she meets a senior named Andy Evans who is extremely captivating. They dance together and then he starts to kiss her. However, Melinda doesn’t like what he’s doing but she’s too drunk to reject him, it then escalates and he rapes Melinda. After the assault, she contacts the police but cannot bring herself to tell them what happened. The police break up the …show more content…
Although, she meets a new girl named Heather and becomes friends with her, although they have little to none similarities. Even with Heather’s friendship, Melinda is still depressed until she discovers art and an old janitor’s closet. Although she’s somewhat stable after finding the closet, she sees Andy Evans in the halls and calls him “IT.” After her encounter with him, she begins to become miserable again. Melinda’s grades begin to drop and she starts to self harm by biting her lips until they bleed. When Heather notices that Melinda is depressed, she breaks her friendship with her instead of getting Melinda help. Her parents and guidance counselors notice her sudden decline, but think it’s just a ploy for attention. Months later, Melinda finally admits to herself that she was raped by Andy Evans. She starts going to class and reuniting with her friends. Although, she still refuses to tell anyone what happened, her ex-best friend Rachel begins to date Andy Evans. Melinda tells her what happened in a series of notes during study hall, but Rachel doesn’t believe her and says she’s just jealous. Yet, Rachel does listen to her warning and breaks up and mortify Andy at