I Can't Hear You. Speak Up.

Coming from an adult who loves to read adolescent literature, it is pretty evident that these novels need to touch on issues facing teenagers today. Without this requirement, young adults are not going to be very apt to read young adult literature (which is pretty problematic). Speak definitely targets issues facing young adults in today's society be it the issue of sexual abuse, depression, or the feeling of being alone. Laurie Halse Anderson definitely meets this requirement. The other major thing I believe Anderson does a very good job with is a requirement Elaine Murphy and her committee came up with when reviewing young adult literature. Murphy is the author of "In Search of Literature for the Twenty-First Century," and she believed that young adult literature "must promote higher level critical thinking skills and allow students to make connections with their own experiences and previous knowledge" (Murphy 110).  Speak almost forces readers to make connections with their own experiences whether they experienced anything Melinda did or not. I feel like it would be hard-pressed to find someone who did not at least know of another person who has struggled with at least one of Melinda's issues.


Not only does Anderson do a phenomenal job of fulfilling her duties as a young adult writer, but she also falls neatly into place in the problem novel category as well. Anderson does not provide a "happily-ever-after" ending; she shows the reader that Melinda still has a long way to go in her coping with her abuse. She also addresses the topic of rape when many authors before her would have never dared to do so. She shows the violence between Andy and Melinda in a more graphic manner. For example, towards the end of the novel, Melinda finds herself trapped in her closet at school with Andy.

"He grabs my wrists. I try to pull them back and he squeezes so tight it feels like my bones are splintering. He pins me against the closed door...I pull my arms again and he slams his body against mine...He curses and turns, his fist coming, coming. An explosion in my head and blood in my mouth. He hit me...I reach in and wrap my fingers around a triangle of glass. I hold it to Andy Evan's neck. He freezes. I push just hard enough to raise one drop of blood" (Anderson 194-5).

This display of violence is quintessential for recent problem novels. Lastly, Anderson also shows Melinda almost succumbing to her trauma, but then she begins to heal through friends, art, and her art teacher.


Ultimately, Speak has gone above and beyond what it takes to make it as a young adult piece of literature, and I would most definitely recommend it to anyone. I had once tried to read this novel in high school, but I never finished it. Upon completing it as a college student, I definitely wish I would have finished it the first time around because I have found that I can relate to Melinda and her problems on a few different levels, and it probably would have helped me out therapeutically during my high school years.

Works Cited

Anderson, Laurie Halse. Speak. New York City, NY: Penguin Putnam Inc, 2003. 194-5. Print.

Murphy, Elaine. "In Search of Literature for the Twenty-First Century." English Journal. (2001): 110. Print.