She's very vocal about the rights of young adults to read literature about sensitive topics. She's a frequent speaker, and listener, at high schools and other places young people congregate. (For fun, compare this to the story of how Stephenie Meyer got the idea for Twilight.)Īnderson's work with young people doesn't stop with writing stories-she also writes back to her fans. Anderson says, "It wasn't until was comfortable with me that she let her secret out" ("Laurie Halse Anderson speaks about SPEAK" in Speak: 10th Anniversary Edition).
Anderson realized "The crying girl in my head, a bad dream." Like readers of Speak, Anderson didn't know right away why Melinda was upset. In an interview, Anderson talks about how Melinda was created: One night, Anderson woke to the sound of "a girl sobbing." She thought it was one of her daughters-but no. Sometimes this book can be hard to read-not because of freakishly long words or super weird concepts, but because the issues Anderson tackles can be pretty hard to stomach, even for the most seasoned-roller coaster enthusiast. Pretty much every single person at her new high school thinks she is the worst because a call she made to the cops ended up breaking up a big party where all the popular kids were having the time of their lives. While most kids are dealing with acne, really bad crushes, mean teachers, and jammed lockers, Melinda Sordino has all of these problems-plus one more. It's the best of times it's the worst of times… actually, mostly it's just the worst of times, and nearly all of these times are demonstrated in Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak.
Want more deets? We've also got a complete Online Course about Speak, with three weeks worth of readings and activities to make sure you know your stuff.
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