Speak Book Review

This book was very out of the ordinary. The story was told in the point of view of Melinda, the narrator and the main the character of the story. She is a character that we learn about in depth. She had a good clique before the end of summer party where she called the cops. At the start of the school year, she had no friends, her lips were quite odd, and she was not in the mindset for school. Throughout the story we learn a lot of new aspects into her character. For one, we find out why she is acting quite strange. It turns out that a boy named Andy had sexually assaulted her at the party. Throughout the story the main theme seems to be quite cliche "stand up for yourself" however it's not that simple. The real message is for women to stand up for themselves in a male dominated society, at a young age. There is also symbolism woven throughout, such as Melinda's final art project which is a tree. The tree symbolizes her growing into society as a young adult. This book was a solid read and I recommend for people to read it and become more aware women's rights.