Error message

  • Warning: preg_match_all() expects parameter 2 to be string, array given in token_scan() (line 124 of /websites/rainn/www/includes/token.inc).
  • Warning: html_entity_decode() expects parameter 1 to be string, array given in decode_entities() (line 463 of /websites/rainn/www/includes/unicode.inc).

Speak

Speak

About the book "Speak"

"Speak up for yourself--we want to know what you have to say." From the first moment of her freshman year at Merryweather High, Melinda knows this is a big fat lie, part of the nonsense of high school. She is friendless, outcast, because she busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops, so now nobody will talk to her, let alone listen to her. As time passes, she becomes increasingly isolated and practically stops talking altogether. Only her art class offers any solace, and it is through her work on an art project that she is finally able to face what really happened at that terrible party: she was raped by an upperclassman, a guy who still attends Merryweather and is still a threat to her. Her healing process has just begun when she has another violent encounter with him. But this time Melinda fights back, refuses to be silent, and thereby achieves a measure of vindication. In Laurie Halse Anderson's powerful novel, an utterly believable heroine with a bitterly ironic voice delivers a blow to the hypocritical world of high school. She speaks for many a disenfranchised teenager while demonstrating the importance of speaking up for oneself.

"Speak" was a 1999 National Book Award Finalist for Young People's Literature.

Make your tax-deductible donation to RAINN

What are the warning signs for child sexual abuse?

Read More

Every 68 seconds, another American is sexually assaulted.

More Stats

91¢ of every $1 goes to helping survivors and preventing sexual violence.

Donate Now