Anderson’s debut young adult book, Speak (1999), is not only her most well-known book, but also her most challenged. Making the American Library Association’s list of one-hundred most challenged books between the years of 2000-2009, Speak tells the story of Melinda Sordino, an incoming freshmen in her hometown who is outcast from everyone at her school. As the story unfolds, the reader learns that Melinda called the police at a party during summer vacation, but does not find out why until near the end of the book. Throughout the story, told from Melinda’s perspective, peaking out is the one thing Melinda struggles to do, staying silent aside from only minimal words she must say to her parents and teachers to get by. The book is intended for high school readers, and while the subject matter may be challenging to some, it is written for and about teenagers who are in high school.
In Speak, Anderson shows how Melinda is experiencing her imperfect world, and the language and themes of the story have inspired many teens to reach out to the author and share how the book helped them to process a similar experience and not give up on life (Anderson, 2010a). This is just one of the reasons that the book is so important for teenagers to read, as throughout the book there are insights for teens into what some of their peers, or even they might be feeling. Throughout the book there are little clues to the world as Melinda sees it, from her first identification of herself, “I am outcast” to her recognizing that their are many clans in her school, none of which she can call her own. Subtler hints at what it feels like to be an isolated teenager can be found in Melinda’s description of being herded with her class into assemblies by teachers and commanded by her parents to apply herself more in school. Melinda’s voice is carefully crafted by Anderson to show just how much she is thinking inside, and how little she is sharing with those around her. When those hints aren’t enough, Melinda shares with the reader her internal thoughts, and even the physical ways that not speaking out is destroying her.
It is getting harder to talk. My throat is always sore, my lips raw. When I wake up in the mooring, my jaws are clenched so tight I have a headache…Every time I try to talk to my parents or a teacher, I sputter or freeze. what is wrong with me? It’s like I have some kind of spastic laryngitis.
I know my head isn’t screwed on straight. I want to leave, transfer, warp myself to another galaxy. I want to confess everything, hand over the guilt and mistake and anger to someone else. There is a beast in my gut, I can hear it scraping away at the inside of my ribs. Even if I dump the memory, it will stay with me, staining me. My closet is a good thing, a quiet place that helps me hold these thoughts inside my head where no one can hear them. (Anderson, 1999, pp. 50-51).
As with many of Anderson’s books, Speak shows that high school can be a difficult place, and as the reader finds out more about Melinda’s past friendships and her current home life, more questions arise about what could have made a girl who is clearly intelligent, witty, and often humorous, such an outcast. Unable to speak out to friends or family, Melinda finds herself struggling in every subject at school except for her art class, which inspires her to keep trying to express herself. Her art teacher continues to encourage and challenge her to find ways to express her truth, and along the way, Melinda begins to find her voice.
Near the end of the book, driven by a fear that what happened to her might happen to others in her school, Melinda finally speaks out about why she called the police that fateful summer night. Raped by an older boy who has continued to leer at her and threaten her throughout the school year, Melinda finally finds her voice and speaks up about what happened.
Melinda’s story, though fictional, is not an uncommon one in America, as shown by the statistics represented in the graphic above (Department of Justice, 1997). Approaching such a controversial and uncomfortable topic with grace and honesty, Anderson gives voice to the character of Melinda in a way that has begun conversations across the country, online and in classrooms, helping teens to discuss rape, underage drinking, and social stereotypes. Receiving starred reviews from School Library Journal and many other notable organizations, Speak is a part of many curriculums throughout the country (Anderson, 2009). A simple internet search reveals many teacher’s lesson plans demonstrating ways that Speak can be a catalyst for beginning teen discussions about rape, peer pressure, and even suicidal thoughts, and a few useful teaching guides can even be found on Anderson’s website. In addition, many teachers choose books like Speak because they encourage critical discussion and engagement with topics and materials that prepare them to be critical thinkers for the rest of their lives (Kaywell, 1994).
One teacher from Arizona even wrote a fifteen part lesson plan entitled Speak Out! Reach Out! for teaching the book after Anderson was asked to speak to teachers at a AETA conference in 2005 (Brown, n.d.) In the lesson, Brown outlines ways that teachers can use speak to teach English language skills, as well as develop further critical thinking skills around the themes of the book. These themes include emotional survival, and they’re accompanied by suggestions for encouraging teens to share their own personal stories, as well as to be on the lookout for warning signs that a friend or peer may be struggling with a difficult situation like Melinda did in the novel. Links to this, and other lesson plans can be found in the reference section. When the book was challenged, authors and teachers alike flocked to defend it and the rights of students to read books that not only challenged them, but encouraged them to think about tough issues (Flood, 2010).
Speak, like most of Anderson’s books, includes a discussion guide at the end of the novel, encouraging readers to further engage with the subject matter dealt with in the novel. Ultimately, the book is about finding a way to process a tragic experience, and it continues to impact teenagers who read it in classrooms, and maintains its place as an important piece of YA realistic fiction that belongs on any YA library shelf; because ultimately, it is about hope, and a way to process trauma as a teenager, which is a message worth repeating as much as possible (Snider, 2014).
Laurie Halse Anderson’s distinct voice is a much needed one in teen fiction, and if the letters she’s received from teens are any indication, her novels need to be on the shelves of school and public libraries to help give teens a way to learn and understand how to deal with many of the less pleasant aspects of teenage life in modern society. While the above rationales only address her two most challenged books, that have also been highly praised by educators and teens alike, her historical fiction also adds a voice to other underrepresented groups in America’s often violent history. Each of Anderson’s books provides a perspective, either on modern or historic teen life, that gives young readers a way to explore challenging topics from the relative safety of the pages of a book. If knowledge is power, then it would be unethical to keep it from the young people who are so near adulthood, and are already dealing with many of the topics frequently challenged in YA literature (Reid & Stringer, 1997).
Life is messy, and Anderson’s books have served to add validity to the importance of realistic fiction that doesn’t hide from the uglier parts of adolescent experience, both in current high school halls and in the nation’s history. As teens deal with conflicting emotions and demands from society, fiction that speaks to them about tough issues is critical to library collections and school classrooms. If you are a teen or parent who is curious about what books are recommended for topics like the ones in Anderson’s books, or are trying to find what appropriate reading material is available to you, find a librarian and begin a conversation about anything from book suggestions to your rights as a reader.
For anyone who isn’t convinced that the messages in Anderson’s work is worthwhile for teenagers to read, the voices of teenagers who have spoken up to her have made a strong case for their own right to read what they choose. Upon the rerelease in 2011 of Speak, Anderson published a poem alongside the book, which is available on her website here. Entitled Listen, Anderson notes, the entire composition of the poem, with the exception of the first and last stanzas, was taken from the thousands of letters she received from readers who spoke out because of reading Speak (Anderson, 2010a).
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