Speak Book Post #1

My first impression of Speak was that it would be just another of those high school books. You know, the one where a student feels left out and just wants to fit in. Well, in Melinda's case, the person that was like that, was Heather. A typical high school student that onl wanted to fit in somewhere, so as to not be known as a loner.

In our first group discussion, we mostly talked about the characters, an what effect they have on Melinda. For example, how Mr. Freeman could potentially be a role model for our main character. He seems to be the only one that actually cares about her 'growth,' which is a coincidence because for the art project, the students had to choose an item to focus on the entire year, and Melinda got a tree. In our discussion, I asked what the tree could mean to Melinda. It could mean 'growth' and how Melinda would grow branches if she learns to finally speak up for herself.

Also, the day before, we wanted to discuss what makes a b*tch. Mostly because of the way that Rachelle, Melinda's former best friend, and many other studants treated her. In the book it is said that Melinda called the cops at a party and got everybody busted. Although we wil eventually learn about what would happen at the party later in the future, that is also what we discussed. The party and people that are the b-words, what really makes a b-tch? In Rachelle's case, that would be not bothering to know what happened at the party and why Melinda called the police when she knew she was having fun. In Heather's case, it's just being herself, and in Melinda's case, it's not caring about anything, keeping everything to herself, and just being a b-tch of her own.

Oh how could I forget Mr. Neck? The only thing my group figured out about his relationship with Melinda is just a bad first impression. What if it was better? Too bad we didn't get to that.

So far, this book is good. And I am so looking forward to what happens at the party.