Speak
By Laurie Halse Anderson
• Laurie Halse Anderson is the New
ABOUT THE
York Times-bestselling author who
AUTHOR
writes for kids of all ages. Known
Laurie Halse Anderson
for tackling tough subjects with
humor and sensitivity, her work
has earned numerous ALA and
state awards. Two of her books,
Speak and Chains, were National
Book Award finalists.
Mother of four and wife of one,
Laurie lives in Northern New York,
where she likes to watch the snow
fall as she writes.
• www.goodreads.com
Who is Laurie Halse Anderson?
Laurie Halse Anderson pretended she was a polar bear when she walked to school through the snow of
Syracuse, New York. As a little girl, she would pound away at her father's old typewriter for hours,
writing newspaper columns, stories, and letters. She loved watching her father write poetry and reading
the funnies on the floor of his office. Laurie fell in love with words when her second-grade teacher
taught her how to write haiku. Her favorite book is the dictionary, which is a good thing because she is a
terrible speller. She tried to read every book in her school library, a heavenly place. She loves librarians!
One of her favorite books was Heidi. This led to curiosity about foreign cultures. As a senior in high
school, she was an American Field Service exchange student to Denmark, where she lived on a pig farm.
She skipped both her prom and graduation ceremonies and had a great time there. She can still speak
Danish.
Laurie Halse Anderson never intended to be an author. At Georgetown University, she majored in foreign
languages and linguistics. She hit the real world with no idea of what kind of work she wanted to do. She
tried everything, including cleaning banks, milking cows and working as a stockbroker. She hated all of it.
Working as a reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer was a slight improvement, but she eventually quit to
write books. After eight long, rejection-filled years, she has finally qualified as an overnight success.
Laurie's books for children and teenagers have attracted a lot of attention. Her first novel, Speak, was a
National Book Award Finalist, a Michael L. Printz Honor book, a New York Times bestseller, and an
American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults. Publisher's Weekly, called Speak "a stunning
first novel," in which Ms. Anderson "uses keen observations and vivid imagery to pull readers into the head
of an isolated teenager." Speak has been translated into sixteen foreign languages, including Chinese and
Catalan. In 2005, the movie version was released. In addition to novels, Laurie writes chapter books for
elementary age children and picture books for the pre-school set. She received the Margaret A. Edwards
Award, given by the American Library Association for significant and lasting achievement in young adult
literature, in 2009.
Laurie lives in Northern New York with her husband, Scot, and their dog, Kezzie. Scot designed and built
a writing cottage for Laurie, where she writes daily. Along with writing, she enjoys gardening, running and
hanging with her family.
From Wikipedia .com—but biography information provided by Anderson and her representative
What is Speak About????
• Main character: Melinda Sordino
• Themes: Isolation, friendship, courage, cliques and
stereotypes
• Setting: Modern day high school in average size town
• Point of View: Told from first person/narrative point of
view
• Conflicts: Man v. Man, Man v. Society, Man v. Self
“What’s eating Melinda Sordino?
For one, everybody at school is mad at her. Over the
summer she went to a big party and ended up calling the
cops, getting a lot of her friends and classmates into
trouble for drinking underage.
In middle school, Melinda was popular and a good
student. Now in her freshman year, her grades have
slipped and her friends don’t acknowledge her existence.
The only companion she finds quickly abandons her to
join a clique.
Her parents aren’t any help. Their only way of
communication with Melinda is through Post-It notes
written on their way out to work.
That’s all pretty bad. But there seems to be something
else going on with Melinda and she won’t open up about
it…..In fact, she stops speaking altogether until thing
that is eating her is finally brought to light and shows its
ugly face to everyone…”
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