50 Fun Facts About Speak (Novel)

Which subject does Melinda pull from a broken globe in Speak and have to turn into art all year?

A tree is Melinda's subject, and her attempts chart her recovery: her early ones are lightning-struck and nearly lifeless. Her art teacher wants every piece to carry emotion.

In Speak, what did Melinda do at an end-of-summer party that turns her old friends against her?

Melinda called the police, which is all her classmates know: the party was broken up and some students were arrested. Nobody knows a senior had just assaulted her.

Which abandoned space at Merryweather High does Melinda turn into her private hideout in Speak?

A janitor's closet in the Seniors' Wing becomes her refuge after she ducks inside to escape Mr. Neck. She steals late passes from Hairwoman's desk so she can slip away to it during class.

Which character in Speak does Melinda refer to only as 'IT' for the first half of the school year?

Andy Evans is the senior who assaulted her, and for months she cannot bring herself to use his name. She finally names him when he turns up at her cafeteria table to flirt with an older girl.

After a ruined Thanksgiving dinner in Speak, what does Melinda pull from the trash for art class?

Turkey bones, glued to a piece of wood and topped with a Barbie doll's head, become her first work to win real praise. Her mother's job kept phoning until the bird was ruined, so Melinda and her father ordered pizza.

Which writer's poster does Melinda hang over the mirror in her school hideout in Speak?

Maya Angelou watches over the hideout, and the choice is pointed: Angelou too was silenced after being attacked as a child. Melinda brings books from home to please the portrait.

Which classic novel does Hairwoman's English class study in Speak, to Rachel's loud annoyance?

The Scarlet Letter gives Melinda a mirror: as Hester Prynne wears an A, she imagines wearing an S for silent, scared and shame. Rachel insists the symbolism is invented, earning the class an essay.

Which actress played Melinda in the 2004 film of Speak, a low-budget production filmed in 21 days?

Kristen Stewart starred opposite Steve Zahn as the art teacher, on a budget of about $1 million. The film premiered at Sundance and later aired on Showtime and Lifetime on the same day.

Which clique of matching outfits and charity projects does Heather strive to join in Speak?

The Marthas took their name from a Martha in the Bible but now follow a famous homemaking guru, living for good deeds and a preppy look. Heather joins on probation and ends up as their errand girl rather than their friend.

In Speak, which group is the subject of the report Melinda refuses to read aloud for Mr. Neck?

The suffragettes inspire her silent protest, but David Petrakis says she missed their point: they fought to be heard. "You can't speak up for your right to be silent," he tells her after she gets a D.

Which teacher does Melinda finally tell her whole story to on the last day of school in Speak?

Mr. Freeman, her art teacher, has just praised her finished project and said he knows she has had a tough year. He was the one adult who kept telling her she had a lot to say.

In Speak, which part of herself does Melinda bite until it bleeds, a habit tied to her silence?

Her lips are chewed raw within weeks, and she turns her bedroom mirror to the wall rather than look at them. The damaged mouth matches her vow not to say what hurts most.

In Speak, which state has Heather just left, where she insists getting involved was never this hard?

Ohio sticks to her name: Melinda first knows her as "Heather from Ohio", a fellow loner at freshman orientation. Their bond is one-sided from the start, with Heather talking and Melinda listening.

In Speak, cutting into which lab animal makes Melinda faint as memories of the party rush back?

A frog is pinned motionless before her, and its helplessness sends her back to the night she was attacked. She hits her head as she falls and needs stitches.

In which class is David Petrakis the lab partner of Melinda in Speak, a subject taught by Ms. Keen?

Biology is one class where Melinda pays attention, drawn in by the microscopes and by David, who is brilliant yet never bullied. She wonders what his secret is.

Which mascot has Merryweather High just dropped as Speak opens, after complaints that it was lewd?

The Trojans give way to the Devils as the school sign is repainted on Melinda's first day. It is the first of several mascot swaps that year, a running joke about a school unsure of its identity.

What food hits Melinda in the chest in the cafeteria on her first day in Speak?

Mashed potatoes hit her as she scans the room for somewhere to sit, and when she tries to flee Mr. Neck hands her a demerit. The 2004 film makes the hit deliberate rather than an accident.

Melinda's list early in Speak is titled 'The First Ten' what 'They Tell You in High School'?

Lies top her list because Melinda trusts no one in authority, mocking her teachers with nicknames like Mr. Neck and Hairwoman. Her sharp inner voice shows she is far from weak, only unwilling to talk.

In which upstate New York city is Speak set, a detail the 2004 film changed to the Midwest?

Syracuse is home ground for its author, who went to high school in a suburb of the city. May finally brings warm weather there late in the novel, and Melinda starts clearing the yard.

What is the surname of Melinda, the narrator of Speak, which is also an Italian musical term?

Sordino is the Italian word for a mute, the device that muffles an instrument: a score marked con sordino tells musicians to play with one. It suits a narrator who has almost stopped talking.

Which mascot wins the school-wide vote in Speak, a result announced at the Winter Assembly?

The Wombats beat the Bees, the Icebergs and the Hilltoppers on the ballot, and Melinda enjoys picturing cheerleaders hunting for a rhyme. The name is scrapped months later because the costume costs too much.

What topic does Mr. Neck write on the board in Speak before David Petrakis walks out in protest?

Immigration is the topic because Mr. Neck is bitter that his son failed to get a firefighting job, and he ends the debate once it turns against him. David calls the lesson racist and xenophobic and leaves.

Which Christmas gift from her parents in Speak almost moves Melinda to tell them her secret?

A sketchpad and charcoal pencils show that her parents have noticed her drawing, and she tears up. She stays quiet because the truth would also raise where each of them was on the night of the party.

When gym class moves indoors in Speak, Melinda turns out to have a surprising talent for what?

Foul shots drop so easily for her that Ms. Connors tries to recruit her for the basketball team, then finds her grades are too low. Asked to coach a boys' team player at the line instead, Melinda cannot say no.

What does IT whisper in Melinda's ear in Speak as she hangs posters for a canned food drive?

Freshmeat is all he says, and she drops everything and runs. She had hoped that being seen doing a good deed for Heather might repair her reputation.

Which canned food do the senior girls scold Heather for donating to their food drive in Speak?

Beets break the clique's rule that members give only food they would eat themselves, and Heather's posters are called childish too. Melinda, who helped with them, is hurt that Heather says nothing.

Which art style does Melinda try in Speak after her teacher hands her a book, earning his praise?

Cubism grabs her in a book on Picasso after his earlier work bores her, and her teacher says she is finally moving forward. Its fragmented style echoes her own scattered thoughts.

Which animal does Melinda become in a recurring metaphor in Speak, freezing whenever IT comes near?

A rabbit that goes rigid and hopes not to be seen is how she pictures herself outside the bakery, and again when he sits beside her at school. Keeping motionless fails: he notices her anyway.

In Speak, what does Melinda decide stands for cold and silence, hushing 'as still as my heart'?

Snow is her answer when Hairwoman asks the class what it meant to the author they are studying: "Nothing quieter than snow." Winter is when Melinda is at her most withdrawn.

Which mascot does Merryweather adopt midway through Speak, even though Melinda is allergic to them?

The Hornets arrive on the principal's say-so, then draw complaints from the PTA once the cheerleaders' chant turns suggestive. The student council counters that a year without a fixed identity is doing harm.

What does Heather return to Melinda in a Valentine's Day envelope taped to her locker in Speak?

A friendship necklace, Melinda's Christmas present to her, comes back with a card thanking her for being so understanding. Melinda had hoped the envelope was from David Petrakis, and cries in her hideout.

In Speak, where did Rachel's mother think her son was taking the girls on the night of the party?

Roller-skating was the cover story after Rachel blackmailed her older brother into driving them to a party with seniors and beer. Melinda's own parents thought she was sleeping over at Rachel's.

At which school event in Speak does Rachel publicly walk away from her date after Melinda's warning?

The prom is where Rachel argues with him on the dance floor and marches off to her exchange-student friends when he grabs at her. Afterwards she burns everything of his and dumps the ashes at his locker.

In Speak, where does Melinda write 'Guys to Stay Away From', a list other girls soon add to?

A bathroom stall carries her warning with a single name on it, written with a marker borrowed from Ivy. When Ivy leads her back, other girls have added their own verdicts in different pens.

Where at school does Melinda finally tell Rachel the truth in Speak, writing it in a notebook?

The library forces the talk onto paper once the librarian shushes them, so Melinda's first confession is written, not spoken. Rachel is sympathetic until she reads the name, then calls her a jealous liar.

Who hears Melinda's screams and reaches her in time when she is attacked again late in Speak?

The lacrosse team, with her old friend Nicole among them, comes running, and one player goes for help. By sundown the whole school knows what he did, and Melinda is no longer an outcast.

What does Melinda hold against her attacker's neck to stop him in the final confrontation of Speak?

A shard of glass from the mirror she smashes as he shoves her is what makes him back off. Moments earlier he had sneered that she would not scream, and this time she finds her voice.

What do arborists cut from the oak in Melinda's yard in Speak, a job her father says will save it?

Dead branches go so the oak can grow again, and her father predicts it will be the strongest in the neighborhood by summer's end. Melinda takes the hint and resolves to prune what is diseased in herself.

What grade does Melinda's art teacher give her finished year-long project on the last day of Speak?

An A+ rewards the one picture she finally allows to be imperfect, a sign she can accept her own flaws. Mr. Neck, by contrast, had given her a D for refusing to present a report aloud.

Which narrative point of view does Speak use across its four marking periods?

First person puts readers inside Melinda's head, where she is witty and sharp even while she barely talks aloud. The choppy lists, subheadings and white space mimic a mind fractured by trauma.

For which major American literary prize was Speak named a finalist in its year of publication?

The National Book Award shortlist came with almost nothing behind the novel: its author recalls no publicity, no advertising and no tour. Teachers and librarians handing it to teenagers did the rest.

Which small role does the author of Speak play in a cameo in its 2004 film adaptation?

A lunch lady serving Melinda in the cafeteria line is the part she took while visiting the set with her daughter. She later joked that an unknown actress had given a stunning, if brief, performance.

Which memoir by the author of Speak recounts the assault in her own teens that lay behind the novel?

Shout arrived alongside a 20th-anniversary edition of the novel. She has said about a tenth of Melinda's story draws on the aftermath of her own assault, the summer before ninth grade.

Which later novel by Speak's author returns to Merryweather High, with Melinda in a brief cameo?

Catalyst follows Kate Malone, a minister's daughter desperate to get into MIT, with Melinda turning up for a few pages. Its author reused the school because she liked writing in that setting.

In which state did a professor's 2010 column calling Speak 'soft pornography' spark a challenge?

Missouri schools faced the challenge after a Missouri State University professor argued the novel exposed children to immorality. Years earlier, its author had written that censoring hard subjects leaves kids in darkness.

Home with a fever in Speak, which TV figures does Melinda imagine discussing what happened to her?

Talk show hosts, Oprah among them, each tell her in her daydream that she was raped and must say so. It is the first time she puts the true word to what happened, a step toward saying it aloud.

In Speak, Melinda is teased as 'Me-no-linda' after her Spanish class learns that 'linda' means what?

Pretty is the meaning, and "Me-no-linda" dogs her for the rest of the lesson. It is one of the few times classmates bully her outright instead of freezing her out.

After his walkout in Speak, what does David Petrakis bring to Mr. Neck's class to keep him in line?

A tape recorder makes Mr. Neck teach by the book while glaring at David throughout. David's parents then hire a lawyer, who wins him the right to film the class so that even the glaring stops.

Which fruit does Melinda's class slice open in Speak, stirring memories of a happier family trip?

Apples take her back to an orchard visit from when her parents got along, and a sprouting seed inside hers earns extra credit. The unit is on how plants reproduce, a subject that follows her all year.

What does Melinda struggle to carve her art subject into in Speak, cutting herself in the attempt?

A linoleum block defeats her for weeks, and when she cuts herself her teacher takes the chisel, rinses it, then slices through his own unfinished painting. The whole class gasps.