Speak

One summer, prior to starting her first day at Merry Weather High School, 13-year-old Melinda "Mel" Sordino goes to a house party with three other friends and is raped by a senior, Andy Evans. This abuse forces her into silence and drastically changes her life and social structure; in fact, for most of the novel, she refers to Andy only as IT as that exasperated her vatic bitter malaise when she called the 911 in a party because of the grope, that ended the party so she was called a snitch ^[3] and a girl reprimanded Melinda. "My brother got arrested at that party. He got fired because of the arrest. I can't believe you did that. Asshole." ^[4][5]

She finds solace in her art class and teacher, Mr. Freeman, where she has a year-long assignment of drawing a tree which plays a major role in her life. Throughout the year she slowly creates a hidden room for herself in an old janitor's closet, which acts as her safe haven, and is the setting for the climactic ending of the novel.

Throughout the year, several minor events led up to her coming forward about her rape. These events include her parents giving her art supplies (showing that they care), her only companion and friend Heather leaving her for the clique called the Marthas and saying Melinda needs therapy, seeing things written about Andy on the bathroom wall and cutting school the next day.

For the majority of the novel, she refuses to admit to herself that she was raped — a fact that makes it hard for Melinda to heal and continue with her life. Melinda attempts to confide in her ex-best friend Rachel, who is dating Andy and initially doesn't believe her. Rachel later realizes the truth after Andy groped her during a dance; she then avoids Andy for fear of getting raped by him. When Andy angrily confronts her about talking to Rachel and attempts to rape her again, Melinda fights back and finally breaks her silence, which sets her free from her isolation and terror; they are found by the school's lacrosse team and, because of Rachel telling people around the school about Andy's actions and his past victims having begun to come forward after seeing Melinda's brief message about Andy on a stall in the girls' restroom, their altercation removes any doubt of his guilts. Therefore, Andy would face the consequences of his crimes against Melinda.

Catalyst

In Anderson's 2002 novel Catalyst, Melinda Sordino appears for a few pages, now in tenth grade at Merryweather High and having regained control over her life. When a fellow student, Kate Malone, has a mental breakdown, she counsels and helps her through the rough patch. It is stated that Andy Evans is found guilty but does not go to prison; instead, he is sentenced to probation and has to register as a sex offender, typically is under house arrest (an alternative to prison), must be electronically tagged by an ankle monitor when completing his penalty, having limited contacts to others except his caregivers (his parents and other immediate family members), ordered to stay away from Melinda, her family and friends, and his other victims at all time. Even if he still able to go to college, he would face harsh restrictions on campus. Thus, his life is ruined following his exposure as a rapist in court, being shunned by his community and his daily activities after high school such as attending school, work, probation appointments, counseling, or community servicing are restricted by the law and closely monitored by probation officers until he finishes his sentence.

In the 10th anniversary edition of Speak, Anderson explained that she was seriously considering making a sequel, but could not think of a basic plot, citing that sequels are usually meant to build on a previous film's popularity, using Jaws: The Revenge as an example.