Speak

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Criswell, Mandy (Summer 2002). "Pennsylvania Author: Anderson, Laurie Halse". Pennsylvania Center for the Book (pabook.libraries.psu.edu). Archived from the original on May 15, 2013 . Retrieved April 23, 2012. Homework is not an option. My bed is sending out serious nap rays. I can't help myself. The fluffy pillows and warm comforter are more powerful than I am. I have no choice but to snuggle under the covers. Forge". Madwomanintheforest.com. Archived from the original on May 25, 2012 . Retrieved May 17, 2012. Burns, Tom, ed. (2008). "Laurie Halse Anderson". Children's Literature Review. Gale, Cengage Learning. 138: 1–24 . Retrieved 3 April 2012. School continues. Melinda’s English class discusses symbolism in The Scarlet Letter, and she tries to work on her tree. She becomes deeply depressed after Heather decides to stop being friends with her, telling her that she needs “professional help.” On Valentine’s Day, Melinda receives a valentine that she hopes and fears might be from David Petrakis. It is actually a friendship breakup valentine from Heather, which causes Melinda to break down in her closet. She cuts school and ends up hiding in a hospital.

My brain doesn't think we should spend any time hanging around algebra. We have better things to think about. It's a shame. Mr. Stetman seems like a nice guy.

SparkNotes—the stress-free way to a better GPA

Thwap! A lump of potatoes and gravy hits me square in the center of my chest. All conversation stops as the entire lunchroom gawks, my face burning into their retinas. I will be forever known as "that girl who got nailed by potatoes the first day." The Basketball Pole apologizes and says something else, but four hundred people explode in laughter and I can't read lips. I ditch my tray and bolt for the door. I've been writing poetry since I was a little girl. ... When you're talking about a marrow experience — like an experience that touches your bone marrow — you want to use the strongest platform you can, and for me, that was poetry. ...

Would he listen to "I need to go home and change," or "Did you see what that bozo did"? Not a chance. I keep my mouth shut. For a solid week, ever since the pep rally, I've been painting watercolors of trees that have been hit by lightning. I try to paint them so they are nearly dead, but not totally. Mr. Freeman doesn't say a word to me about them. He just raises his eyebrows. One picture is so dark you can barely see the tree at all.a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae Tannert-Smith, Barbara (Winter 2010). " 'Like Falling up into a Storybook': Trauma and Intertextual Repetition in Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak". Children's Literature Association Quarterly. 35 (4): 395–414. doi: 10.1353/chq.2010.0018. S2CID 145074033.

But algebra? Every single day, someone asks Mr. Stetman why we have to learn algebra. You can tell this causes him great personal pain. Mr. Stetman loves algebra. He is poetic about it, in an integral-number sort of way. He talks about algebra the way some guys talk about their cars. Ask him why algebra and he launches into a thousand and one stories why algebra. None of them makes sense. Anderson, Laurie Halse (September 6, 2017). "Laurie Halse Anderson | Mad Woman in the Forest". madwomanintheforest.com . Retrieved March 20, 2023.

Adam Bede

Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, chronicles the struggles of thirteen-year-old Melinda Sordino after she is a raped by at a party the summer before her freshman year of high school by another student. Melinda tells her story in first person narrative. She describes events within the framework of the four marking periods of the school year.

Mr. Freeman: "Why not spend that time on art: painting, sculpting, charcoal, pastel, oils? Are words or numbers more important than images? Who decided this? Does algebra move you to tears?" (Hands raise, thinking he wants answers.) "Can the plural possessive express the feelings in your heart? If you don't learn art now, you will never learn to breathe!!!"

But they are so cute. And they cheer on our boys, inciting them to violence and, we hope, victory. These are our role models—the Girls Who Have It All. I bet none of them ever stutter or screw up or feel like their brains are dissolving into marshmallow fluff. They all have beautiful lips, carefully outlined in red and polished to a shine. I'm supposed to make a centerpiece out of waxed maple leaves, acorns, ribbon, and a mile of thin wire. Heather is going to set the table and hang the banner. She babbles on about her classes while I ruin leaf after red leaf. I ask if we can trade before I cause permanent damage to myself. Heather gently untangles me from the wire. She holds a bunch of leaves in one hand, twists the wire around the stem—one—two—hides the wire with ribbon and hot-glues the acorns into place. It's spooky. I hurry to finish the table. Much like my experience with the novel I kept the graphic novel near me, planning to read it all month, but once again I was afraid of Humpty Dumptying. It’s due tomorrow and someone else has reserved it so I could avoid it no longer. But like Speak before it, it was AMAZING!!!