Speak

Anderson, L.H. (1999). Speak. NY: Penguin. Melinda Sordino had everything such as friends and popularity until one summer party everything changed. Melinda went to the end of the summer party with her best friend Rachel. What she wasn’t expecting was to be turned into the school outcast. She busted the party by calling the cops after she was raped. She finds herself disappearing and shuts the world out. Rather than speaking up about the incident, she closes herself in and finds the art room her safe haven. Melinda finds relief in her art project and keeps her from thinking about what happened to her. She tortures herself with the idea that the animal still lurks out in the halls and there are potential prey if she doesn’t speak up. Her ex-best friend Rachel accuses her of jealousy when she finally opens up about the incident and makes things worse because the animal is Rachel’s boyfriend Andy. The tree symbolism in Melinda’s art project read volumes that in order to heal, you need to speak out and feel growth in one’s power to speak out! For more information on rape, abuse, go to https://www.rainn.org/.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuFR9f9s6Gw (book trailer)