Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Speak

As you walk along the halls, no friends stop you to chat. No one says any friendly hellos, nobody's asking how the test went, you're not discussing how much you hate math or social studies or whatever. The only human contact that you do have are the dirty glances in the hallways from those who were your friends. You lay on your bed and no one calls to talk to you about how the homework is so unfair or how so and so is SO cute. You are alone. This is what is happening to Melinda in the book "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson after one phone call.

During the course of the book "Speak", Melinda is constantly being ignored by her former friends and you really don’t know why at the start of the story. However, as the book progresses, you start to learn more about the event that caused this outcome in flashbacks and little hints throughout the book. Melinda also has flashbacks of the incident herself that are triggered by things that remind her of that night. In biology for example, when they were dissecting frogs as she pinned down the frog's legs, she remembered being pinned down and helpless on the night of the party. Not only is Melinda being ignored by her old friends, but her parents as well. Her family used to be one big caring family when she was little, but as she grew up, things started to change and her perfect little family was no more and he parents almost never talk to her anymore.

The book "Speak" is a perfect example of how your entire world can change in an instant based on the actions you take. You should be careful with what actions you choose to take part in because it may have worked out for Melinda in the end, but that doesn't mean it will turn out that way for you and your actions.