Speak

The lives of some are tragic; for Melinda Sordino her life is a nightmare. With no friends and a family that didn’t care, nobody would ever wish this upon any person. Unfortunately some teens like Melinda are forced to live their lives like this for years. In the novel Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson all aspects of teenagers' lives are defined.
Many teens throughout the world have to deal with other teens who can bully others or simply just dysfunctional . Children, no matter what they are taught, will always judges other kids. Even though it may not be fair, it’s life. A teen in Philadelphia was bullied, he was pushed over the edge. That teen shot a 17 year old fellow student, the attacker of the suspect. Although Melinda was harassed by many peers she was strong enough not to break. And it’s good that Melinda was strong, otherwise who knows what she could have done. The child that had been attacked had no friends, he was a loner. His family life was just as bad, his mom drank and he didn’t know his father. Even his sister was uncaring, she was an abuser of drugs. Melinda and this boy had much in common, both of them harassed until a breaking point, the boy’s breaking point was to murder another and Melinda’s was to simply no longer talk.
The characters in this novel are what keeps your eyes on the page. Melinda, the main character, was a simple girl with a group of friends and a date to a senior party. Going into high school Melinda had seemed unstoppable, that was until the party that ruined her life. Andy Evans, this amazing teen that all the girls in her grade had crushed on, wasn’t so sweet. He hurt Melinda at that party causing Melinda to do the unthinkable, call the police. From that day Melinda went spiraling down. For being a main character Melinda seemed normal at the first glance, but after awhile the reader might see that she was hiding a deep secret in the pit of her stomach. A secret that she couldn’t bear to tell anyone. It’s heart breaking to know that some teens have to really deal with this fact, they have a secret that makes them sick but they can’t tell anyone either. Another main character/characters is the parents of Melinda Sordino, her mom is a workaholic and barley notices she has a daughter. Melinda’s father is just as bad, he works, comes home and watches TV, completely forgetting that he even has a daughter. Overall Melinda’s parents aren’t the best role models, but it doesn’t necessarily help that she isn’t working like a proper teen should.
Looking in the eyes of Melinda Sordino a troubled teen, living life without parents at all can almost seem better. It’s not hard to change your life when you’ve made many mistakes and this is because most stories do have a happy ending. Truly Melinda’s life was at the complete bottom of any crevice and cannon any major hole, the only place to go next is up.