Speak

Anderson, L. H. (1999). Speak. NY: Penguin Melinda Sordino begins her freshman year at, with a heavy secret weighing on her. Melinda's only friend is Heather, a new student, who tries to get Melinda involved in her schemes to gain popularity. Melinda new secret is that she was raped by Andy Evans over the summer before her 9th grade year. She finally overcome her fears and shares her secret through her painting in Art class. This is a great book that young adults can connect to, it has a lot of emotions and unanswered questions. I would say this book is good for ages 13-18, especially young girls. It would be great for a teacher to use this story to reach out to young people that have gone through this turmoil.  Melinda had to learn to get along with her peers and her peers have to accept her, this is Havighurst's theory of developmental.