Speak Book Review

Everyone should read this book, its not great, but its not bad either. Laurie Halls Anderson's Speak was a very interesting and dramatic novel. The characters, setting, and the plot weren't that great to be honest, but I enjoyed reading the book.
First off, the characters in this novel were interesting. Melinda, the protagonist, is a loner. She really has no friends since the incident during the party when she called the police. She hides in her closet at school to get away from people because nobody wants to be her friend anymore, not even her old friends. Andy Evans is a creepy character. He was the one who raped Melinda at the party when she was drunk and didn't know what was happening. He is a jock and he is going out with Rachelle, who thinks he is just the best, but she doesn't know the truth about him. Mr. Freeman could be the coolest character. He helps Melinda through her school life. He trears her like anyone else in his classes. Mr. Freeman is just an awesome guy.
Next, the setting was in a school just like any other, but a little less realistic. Melinda goes to Merryweather High School, home of the Wombats. The setting didn't change that much throughout the novel because Melinda just usually goes to school and goes straight home. Sometimes she stays in her closet at school though.
Lastly, the plot was caught my attention. Melinda starts out in the novel as a loner, she has no friends, nobody. She meets Heather, who becomes her friend unintentionally because she was new to the school. Heather later joins the Martha's who do as much as they can to help other people, but just really use Heather to do everything. So Heather leaves Melinda and now Melinda has no friends. She gets some help from Ivy later on and finally has the courage to talk to Rachelle about what happened at the party when Andy raped her. Melinda broke through and could finally confront people and stopped hanging out in her closet. What happened next, you will have to read the book yourself.
To sum it up, Speak enthralled me with his interesting characters, setting, and the great plot. I would recommend this book to anyone who has had this happen them in their lives or knows anyone like Melinda in their life.