When I was just old enough to walk along the street, my mom told me to watch out for men. Watch out for the sitting in cars; watch out for men walking; watch out for men in front of you; watch out for men next to you; watch out for men behind you. However, no matter how popular this thinking is among women, men are never aware of it. The lack of representation of this thinking has caused confusion in the understanding of rape. I used to think that this is only a private conversation between women until I read Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson.

The front cover of Speak is very different from the clear and colorful images of other books: its very blurry, and it takes quite some time to figure out what is being depicted is half of a human face hiding behind a few leaves. As I dove further into the book, the connection between the blurry cover and the storyline became clear. The hidden face connects to the title of the book - Speak, reflecting the struggle the main character has when choosing between speaking up or hiding away from sexual assault. 

Anderson explores sexual assault through the lens of Melinda, a freshman girl who was raped the previous summer, bullied at school for calling the police after the incident, and isolated herself from her peers as a result. By the end of the school year, Melinda finds the courage to speak up about the assault through scattered comments left about the incident on a bathroom stall. The book ends with the rapist attacking her again, and her peers coming to the rescue, validating her story. Speak thus explores the struggles surrounding speaking up as a victim of sexual assault and the ways in which community response affects victims of sexual assault. 

The book is a nice read for middle schoolers or 9th graders, and the author's Q&A section reveals the necessity of such a read for young men, Here. Anderson states she is repeatedly asked by her readers, “why is Melinda so upset about being raped.” It never appeared to me that people could be ignorant about the consequences of being sexually assaulted. Soon, I realized that we never receive lectures at school about rape and its consequences. Since we do not have education in school, it is more important to learn about Melinda’s journey in the book.

Overall, I really like the book. It gives me a completely new view of a high school student's life and the inside thinking of a victim of sexual assault.