Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Anderson, L.H. (1999). Speak. New York: Puffin Books.

ISBN-13: 978-0-374-37152-4

Plot Summary

High school freshman Melinda Sordino is an ostracized by everyone, including her best friend. Before school began, she attended a party that forever changed her. She got drunk, and then she was raped by Andy Evans, a popular senior. She called 911, and the police broke up the party. Nobody knows the real reason she called, and they are angry that their merriment was cut short. Because of her trauma, she barely speaks now at all. As the school year progresses and she continually withdraws, her grades decline, she loses the only friend she has left, and she is continually tormented by Andy. The only person who seems to be able to reach her is her art teacher, Mr. Freeman, who encourages her to express her feelings through art. Then, her former best friend begins dating Andy, and he attacks her again. This time, though, she is able to speak and in doing so, finally finds her voice.

Critical Evaluation

The first person narration of Speak expresses teenagers’ emotions spot on. For example, the novel opens with these lines: “It is my first morning of high school. I have seven new notebooks, a skirt I hate, and a stomachache.” What teen cannot relate to that feeling? This example of Melinda’s narration and inner thoughts is just the beginning of prose written with much wit, honesty, and acute insight. Melinda’s pain is felt through her words. The high school setting further provides a realistic portrayal of the conflict, and the novel is divided into four sections to mirror the four grading periods of an academic year. Through the progression of time, readers see the transformation of Melinda from withdrawn to finally finding her voice. The prose is replete with vivid imagery as Melinda describes what she sees and what she feels. Themes of seeds are sown throughout the book and germinate as Melinda grows stronger and is able find her voice. This unforgettable debut novel will resonate with readers on many levels.

 

Reader’s Annotation

High school freshman Melinda is raped at a party the summer before school starts and she is so traumatized, she will not speak. An outcast and hated by her classmates, as the school year progresses she learns who her true friends are and finds her voice again just in time.

 

Author Information

Laurie Halse Anderson is a bestselling author known for writing about tough subjects with sensitivity. She has won many awards, and her books Speak and Chains have been National Book Award finalists. Born October 23, 1961 in Potsdam, New York, close to the border of Canada, she continues to live in Northern New York and enjoys watching the snow fall during the winter. She married her childhood sweetheart, Scot, and they have four children. She would like for people to correctly pronounce her name: Halse rhymes with waltz.

 

Anderson began her career in writing as a picture book writer. Before that, she was a freelance reporter for newspapers and magazines. She is well-known for picture books about American history. Because history is a passion of hers, she has written historical fiction novels Fever 1793 and Chains, which is the first in a trilogy set in the Revolutionary War.

 

More information about Laurie Halse Anderson can be found at her website:

http://madwomanintheforest.com/

 

Genre

Young Adult Fiction

High School

Rape

Book Talking Ideas

How art expresses feelings

Reading Level/ Interest Age

Characters are high school students; appropriate for grades 8 and up

Challenge Issues

Underage drinking, rape

Challenge Defense

In defense of a challenge, I would cite these reviews as well as ALA's Strategies and Tips for Dealing with Challenges to Library  Materials.

Book Links (A.L.A.) 01/01/07

Publishers Weekly starred 09/13/99

Booklist 09/15/99

School Library Journal starred 10/01/99

Books for the Teen Age (NYPL) 04/01/99

Wilson's Junior High School 01/09/10

Horn Book starred 09/01/99

Wilson's Senior High School 10/01/07

Why did I include this title?

This is a powerful book about a sensitive subject. Melinda’s cutting voice accurately portrays the struggles of high school, and readers can relate to that. The list of lies they tell you in high school is hilarious.

Crank by Ellen Hopkins

Hopkins, E. (2004). Crank. New York. Simon Pulse.

ISBN-13: 978-1-41699-513-5

Plot Summary

Kristina is sixteen years old, gets straight A’s, and has a comfortable home, but her life is turned upside down when she is court-ordered to leave Reno, Nevada and visit her estranged father in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She hasn’t seen him in eight years. In Albuquerque, Kristina meets Adam who introduces her to things she’s never known: love and crystal meth. She’s not Kristina anymore, though; she has left that life behind her and calls herself Bree. Bree becomes addicted to the highs she feels when held by the grips of the monster (what she calls crank, or meth) and the lust she feels for Adam. This new side of her resents and hates Kristina’s monotonous life when she returns to Reno, and she gets caught up in the downward spiral addiction creates. Two new boys enter her life, but one is bad and rapes her while the other is good and loves her. Pregnancy forces her to make a decision that changes her life. Now 17, she tries to leave the monster behind.

Critical Evaluation

The first thing the reader sees upon opening the book is how it’s written; the book is written in verse instead of prose. The free verse style is an example of poetic form following function: the arrangement of the words into lines and stanzas, changing on each page, reflect the disjointed, broken life Kristina/Bree is living. It allows for her fragmented thoughts that flow through this first-person narration. Often, the lines will create a concrete poem in which the words and lines are arranged in such a way that suggest the topic or subject of the poem. For example, the poem “Home Sweet Home” is actually shaped as a house. Another example is the poem “Paydirt!” when she discusses losing her virginity. The shape of the poem is a giant “V” and it represents what a big deal it is to Kristina. In poetry, every word is thoughtfully planned so the reader is left to focus on what is there and the result, in this case, is the complete control the monster has on Kristina. Plus, despite the ugliness of the drug, there are moments of artful word choice as in the alliteration this line creates: “I wanted to walk with the monster” (231). One purpose of alliteration is to make the words stand out and its affect here is that nothing else is as important as the drug. Also, many poems can be read more than one way with lines on two sides of the page. Perhaps this creates a confused effect, which might represent Kristina’s mind. Perhaps this represents the two sides of the character. Furthermore, referring to the drug with the metaphor of a monster gives the drug a life of its own with negative, frightening connotations. The ending is left hopeful with new life and patience, but the conflict Kristina/Bree has with the monster is not resolved.

 

Reader’s Annotation

 

Kristina has everything going for her in Reno until she visits her estranged father in Albuquerque, and everything changes. The monster has its grip on her and Kristina (or is it Bree?) struggles with this new life it has created.

 

Author Information

 

The Ellen Hopkins website’s homepage has two choices: adult and young adult. http://www.ellenhopkins.com/

 

Ellen Hopkins is a freelance writer, a poet, and an award-winning author of nonfiction books and novels in verse. Hopkins has published numerous articles about topics ranging from child abuse to winemaking. Born in Long Beach, CA on March 26, 1955, she was adopted by an older couple and grew up in Palm Springs. Her father was a self-made millionaire, and from him Hopkins learned the value of hard work. From her mother, she developed a love of reading and even began reading chapter books before kindergarten. This nurturing environment of her childhood helped Ellen Hopkins become the writer she is today.

 

Despite her comfortable upbringing, Ellen Hopkins experienced much personal hardship in her life. Two relationships ended; one in divorce and another resulted in the kidnap of her daughter for three years. Then, in 1991, she married her John Hopkins, whom she calls her forever love and best friend. They moved to northern Nevada in 1990, and it is there she began writing for a living. Crank is based loosely on her own daughter’s experience with crystal meth. The baby at the end, named “Hunter,” is her grandson Orion, born in 1996. They took guardianship of him and then adopted him when he was almost four.

 

Ellen Hopkins enjoys speaking at schools and libraries, and encourages her readers to contact her via email and blog posts. She also offers tips to help writers. Ellen Hopkins is more than happy to sign and personalize bookplates as well.

Genre

Young adult

Poetry

Alternate format

Drugs

Rape

Teen pregnancy

Curriculum Ties

Forms of poetry and figurative language

Book Talking Ideas

Different kinds of drugs, addiction, handling stress

Reading Level/ Interest Age

Appropriate for ages 14 and up

Challenge Issues

Sex, drugs, rape, sex, language, teen pregnancy

Challenge Defense

If it were challenged, I would consult ALA's Strategies and Tips for Dealing with Challenges to Library  Materials.

I would also cite these reviews:

Booklist 11/15/04

Publishers Weekly 11/01/04

Kirkus Review 10/01/04

School Library Journal 11/01/04

Kliatt 09/01/04

Voice of Youth Advocates (V.O.Y.A.) 02/01/05

Why did I include this title?

I read this book in a day. It exhausted me. Kristina/Bree had a hold on me like the monster had on her. It made me wonder how many people I might know who are struggling with an addiction and how it makes them change. It’s a book that will terrify you. It shows how incredibly damaging drugs are and how they can ruin your life.