How does a silenced voice find the strength to speak?
Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak traces Melinda Sordino’s raw battle with the aftermath of a summer assault in Syracuse, New York, forging her path from silence to defiant voice through art and courage. A ninth-grader ostracized for calling the police at a party, Melinda grapples with trauma, isolation, and the courage to heal.
This collection presents 57 unique quotes, organized by marking period, etching Melinda’s arc—trauma, isolation, resilience, and empowerment. These lines sear the stark honesty and vivid imagery of Anderson’s prose, illuminating a teen’s fight to reclaim her voice.
Heads up! Check the note at the end about the specific edition used and why page numbers might vary.
First Marking Period: Silence and Isolation
Melinda enters high school as an outcast, her voice stifled by trauma and the weight of unspoken truths.
“It is my first morning of high school. I have seven new notebooks, a skirt I hate, and a stomachache.”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Melinda Sordino), Theme: Anxiety, New Beginnings, Page 3
“I am not going to think about it. It was ugly, but it’s over, and I’m not going to think about it.”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Melinda Sordino), Theme: Denial, Trauma, Page 4
“My English teacher has no face. She has uncombed stringy hair that droops on her shoulders. The hair is black from her part to her ears and then neon orange to the frizzy ends. I call her Hairwoman.”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Melinda Sordino), Theme: Detachment, Observation, Page 6
“THE FIRST TEN LIES THEY TELL YOU IN HIGH SCHOOL
1. We are here to help you.
2. You will have time to get to your class before the bell rings.
3. The dress code will be enforced.
4. No smoking is allowed on school grounds.
5. Our football team will win the championship this year.
6. We expect more of you here.
7. Guidance counselors are always available to listen.
8. Your schedule was created with you in mind.
9. Your locker combination is private.
10. These will be the years you look back on fondly.”~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Melinda Sordino), Theme: Cynicism, Disillusionment, Page 5
“My first class is biology. I can’t find it and get my first demerit for wandering the hall. It is 8:50 in the morning. Only 699 days and 7 class periods until graduation.”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Melinda Sordino), Theme: Disorientation, Endurance, Page 5
“It is easier not to say anything. Shut your trap, button your lip, can it. All that crap you hear on TV about communication and expressing feelings is a lie. Nobody really wants to hear what you have to say.”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Melinda Sordino), Theme: Silence, Alienation, Page 7
“This is where you can find your soul if you dare. Where you can touch that part of you that you’ve never dared look at before. Do not come here and ask me to show you how to draw a face. Ask me to help you find the wind.”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Mr. Freeman), Theme: Art, Self-Discovery, Page 8
“Why not spend that time on art: painting, sculpting, charcoal, pastel, oils? Are words or numbers more important than images? Who decides this? Does algebra move you to tears? Can plural possessives express the feelings in your heart? If you don’t learn art now, you will never learn to breathe!”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Mr. Freeman), Theme: Art, Expression, Page 8
“Mr. Freeman sighs. ‘No imagination. What are you thirteen? Fourteen? You’ve already let them beat your creativity out of you!’”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Mr. Freeman), Theme: Creativity, Conformity, Page 8
“I make it through the first two weeks of school without a nuclear meltdown.”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Melinda Sordino), Theme: Survival, Resilience, Page 11
“Homework is not an option. My bed is sending out serious nap rays. I can’t help myself. The fluffy pillows and warm comforter are more powerful than I am. I have no choice but to snuggle under the covers.”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Melinda Sordino), Theme: Escape, Depression, Page 11
“Principal Principal: ‘Where’s your late pass, mister?’
Errant Student: ‘I’m on my way to get one now.’
PP: ‘But you can’t be in the hall without a pass.’
ES: ‘I know, I’m so upset. That’s why I need to hurry, so I can get a pass.’
Principal Principal pauses with a look on his face like Daffy Duck’s when Bugs is pulling a fast one.”~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Melinda Sordino observing), Theme: Humor, Authority, Page 13
“Gym should be illegal. It’s humiliating.”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Melinda Sordino), Theme: Vulnerability, Shame, Page 14
“I need a new friend. I need a friend, period. Not a true friend, nothing close or share clothes or sleepover giggle giggle yak yak. Just a pseudo-friend, disposable friend. Friend as accessory. Just so I don’t feel or look so stupid.”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Melinda Sordino), Theme: Loneliness, Social Pressure, Page 15
“The same boys who got detention in elementary school for beating the crap out of people are now rewarded for it. They call it football.”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Melinda Sordino), Theme: Hypocrisy, Violence, Page 19
“My parents didn’t raise me to be religious. The closest we come to worship is the Trinity of Visa, Mastercard, and American Express. I think the Merryweather cheerleaders confuse me because I missed out on Sunday School. It has to be a miracle. There is no other explanation. How else could they sleep with the football team on Saturday night and be reincarnated as virginal goddesses on Monday?”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Melinda Sordino), Theme: Hypocrisy, Judgment, Page 20
“If I ever form my own clan, we’ll be the anti-cheerleaders and walk under the bleacher forming mild acts of mayhem.”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Melinda Sordino), Theme: Rebellion, Identity, Page 20
“I am getting better at smiling when people expect it.”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Melinda Sordino), Theme: Masking, Coping, Page 22
“I pull my lower lip all the way in between my teeth. If I try hard enough, maybe I can gobble my whole self this way…. I didn’t try hard enough to swallow myself.”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Melinda Sordino), Theme: Self-Destruction, Pain, Page 23
“To keep up appearances, I stomp my room and slam the door.”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Melinda Sordino), Theme: Facade, Anger, Page 23
“I just thought of a great theory that explains everything. When I went to that party, I was abducted by aliens. They have created a fake Earth and fake high school to study me and my reactions. This certainly explains cafeteria food.”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Melinda Sordino), Theme: Escapism, Humor, Page 24
“I see IT in the hallway. IT is my nightmare and I can’t wake up. IT sees me. IT smiles and winks. Good thing my lips are stitched together or I’d throw up.”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Melinda Sordino), Theme: Fear, Trauma, Page 26
As Melinda burrows into silence, her inner turmoil festers, surfacing in raw pain and fleeting defiance.
Second Marking Period: The Weight of Trauma
Melinda’s isolation deepens as buried trauma claws at her, finding expression in art and self-harm.
“I know my head isn’t screwed on straight. I want to leave, transfer, warp myself to another galaxy. I want to confess everything, hand over the guilt and mistake and anger to someone else. There is a beast in my gut, I can hear it scraping away at the inside of my ribs. Even if I dump the memory, it will stay with me, staining me.”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Melinda Sordino), Theme: Trauma, Guilt, Page 30
“He says a million things without saying a word… I have never heard a more eloquent Silence.”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Melinda Sordino), Theme: Expression, Silence, Page 34
“I want to make a memorial for our turkey. Never has a bird been so tortured to provide such a lousy dinner.”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Melinda Sordino), Theme: Humor, Art, Page 36
“This is wonderful, wonderful! Be the bird. You are the bird. Sacrifice yourself to abandoned family values….”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Mr. Freeman), Theme: Art, Sacrifice, Page 36
“There is something about Christmas that requires a rug rat. Little kids make Christmas fun. I wonder if could rent one for the holidays. When I was tiny we would buy a real tree and stay up late drinking hot chocolate and finding just the right place for the special decorations. It seems like my parents gave up the magic when I figured out the Santa lie. Maybe I shouldn’t have told them I knew where the presents really came from. It broke their hearts.”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Melinda Sordino), Theme: Nostalgia, Family, Page 41
“They say they have noticed me drawing. I almost tell them right then and there. They noticed.”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Melinda Sordino), Theme: Validation, Hope, Page 42
“I just want to sleep. A coma would be nice. Or amnesia. Anything, just to get rid of this, these thoughts, whispers in my mind. Did he rape my head, too?”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Melinda Sordino), Theme: Trauma, Escape, Page 48
“I watch the Eruptions. Mount Dad, long dormant, now considered armed and dangerous. Mount Saint Mom, oozing lava, spitting flame. Warn the villagers to run into the sea.”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Melinda Sordino), Theme: Family Conflict, Humor, Page 51
“I open up a paperclip and scratch it across the inside of my left wrist. Pitiful. If a suicide attempt is a cry for help, then what is this. A whimper, a peep? I draw little window cracks of blood, etching line after line until it stops hurting.”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Melinda Sordino), Theme: Self-Harm, Pain, Page 51
“Rumors are spread by jealous people”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Emily), Theme: Gossip, Envy, Page 53
Amid crushing despair, Melinda’s art kindles faint sparks of hope, hinting at her buried strength.
Third Marking Period: Searching for Identity
Melinda grapples with her fractured sense of self, yearning for simpler times while confronting her reality.
“I want to be in fifth grade again. Now, that is a deep dark secret, almost as big as the other one. Fifth grade was easy — old enough to play outside without Mom, too young to go off the block. The perfect leash length.”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Melinda Sordino), Theme: Nostalgia, Innocence, Page 58
“It’s Nathaniel Hawthorne Month in English. Poor Nathaniel. Does he know what they’ve done to him? We’re reading The Scarlet Letter one sentence at a time, tearing it up and chewing on its bones.”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Melinda Sordino), Theme: Literature, Cynicism, Page 59
“I can see us, living in the woods, her wearing that A, me with a S maybe, S for silent, S for stupid, for scared. S for silly. For shame.”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Melinda Sordino), Theme: Shame, Identity, Page 59
“Who cares what the color means? How do you know what he meant to say? I mean, did he leave another book called ‘Symbolism in My Books?’ If he didn’t, then you could just be making all of this up. Does anyone really think this guy sat down and stuck all kinds of hidden meanings into his story? It’s just a story…. But I think you are making all of this symbolism stuff up. I don’t believe any of it.”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Rachel), Theme: Skepticism, Literature, Pages 59-60
“CONJUGATE THIS: I cut class, you cut class, he, she, it cuts class. We cut class, they cut class. We all cut class. I cannot say this in Spanish because I did not go to Spanish today. Gracias a dios. Hasta luego.”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Melinda Sordino), Theme: Rebellion, Humor, Page 62
“It is easier to floss with barbed wire than admit you like someone in middle school.”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Melinda Sordino), Theme: Vulnerability, Youth, Page 63
“It doesn’t hurt. Nothing hurts except the small smiles and blushes that flash across the room like tiny sparrows.”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Melinda Sordino), Theme: Emotional Pain, Observation, Page 63
“Do they choose to be so dense? Were they born that way? I have no friends. I have nothing. I say nothing. I am nothing.”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Melinda Sordino), Theme: Despair, Alienation, Page 68
“I can’t do everything for you. You must walk alone to find your soul.”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Mr. Freeman), Theme: Self-Reliance, Growth, Page 69
“When people don’t express themselves, they die one piece at a time. You’d be shocked at how many adults are really dead inside—walking through their days with no idea who they are, just waiting for a heart attack or cancer or a Mack truck to come along and finish the job. It’s the saddest thing I know.”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Mr. Freeman), Theme: Expression, Survival, Page 72
“Art without emotion is like chocolate cake without sugar. It makes you gag.”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Mr. Freeman), Theme: Art, Emotion, Page 72
“My face becomes a Picasso sketch, my body slicing into pieces.”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Melinda Sordino), Theme: Fragmentation, Trauma, Page 73
“I push my ragged mouth against the mirror. A thousand crushed bleeding lips pushed back at me…”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Melinda Sordino), Theme: Self-Perception, Pain, Page 73
“Cold and silence. Nothing quieter than snow. The sky screams to deliver it, a hundred banshees flying on the edge of the blizzard. But once the snow covers the ground, it hushes as still as my heart.”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Melinda Sordino), Theme: Emptiness, Silence, Page 76
“I flip ahead in the textbook. There’s an interesting chapter about acid rain. Nothing about sex. We aren’t scheduled to learn about that until eleventh grade.”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Melinda Sordino), Theme: Trauma, Avoidance, Page 86
Melinda’s struggle with identity intensifies, but Mr. Freeman’s guidance sparks flickers of self-awareness and purpose.
Fourth Marking Period: Finding Her Voice
Melinda’s journey culminates in defiance and empowerment as she confronts her attacker and reclaims her voice.
“Nothing is perfect. Flaws are interesting. Be the tree.”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Mr. Freeman), Theme: Imperfection, Growth, Page 90
“Don’t expect to make a difference unless you speak up for yourself.”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: David), Theme: Advocacy, Courage, Page 93
“My head is killing me, my throat is killing me, my stomach bubbles with toxic waste. I just want to sleep. A coma would be nice. Or amnesia. Anything, just to get rid of this, these thoughts, whispers in my mind.”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Melinda Sordino), Theme: Trauma, Exhaustion, Page 97
“Too much sun after a Syracuse winter does strange things to your head, makes you feel strong, even if you aren’t.”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Melinda Sordino), Theme: Hope, Renewal, Page 106
“A little kid asks my father why that man is chopping down the tree. Dad: ‘He’s not chopping it down. He’s saving it. Those branches were long dead from disease. All plants are like that. By cutting off the damage you make it possible for the tree to grow again. You watch – by the end of summer, this tree will be the strongest on the block.’”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Characters: Melinda Sordino and Dad), Theme: Healing, Resilience, Page 109
“I have survived. I am here. Confused, screwed up, but here. So, how can I find my way? Is there a chain saw of the soul, an ax I can take to my memories or fears?”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Melinda Sordino), Theme: Survival, Self-Discovery, Page 110
“Sometimes I think high school is one long hazy activity: if you are tough enough to survive this, they’ll let you become an adult. I hope it’s worth it.”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Melinda Sordino), Theme: Endurance, Maturity, Page 112
“IT happened. There is no avoiding it, no forgetting. No running away, or flying, or burying, or hiding.”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Melinda Sordino), Theme: Confrontation, Truth, Page 115
“I look at my homely sketch. It doesn’t need anything. Even through the river in my eyes I can see that. It isn’t perfect and that makes it just right.”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Melinda Sordino), Theme: Acceptance, Art, Page 115
“Mr. Freeman: ‘No crying in my studio. It ruins the supplies. Salt, you know, saline. Etches like acid.’ He sits on the stool next to me and hands back my tree. ‘You get an A+. You worked hard at this.’ He hands me the box of tissues. ‘You’ve been through a lot, haven’t you?’”
~Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak, (Character: Mr. Freeman), Theme: Validation, Healing, Page 115
Melinda’s final act of speaking out marks her rebirth, a testament to the power of truth over silence.
Conclusion: The Power of Speaking Out
These 57 quotes sear the unflinching soul of Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak. Melinda Sordino’s odyssey—from suffocating silence to shattering truth—stands as a beacon of resilience, proving the power of a voice reclaimed. Through isolation, art, and defiance, her story unveils the courage to confront trauma and heal, resonating as a timeless call to speak.
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A Note on Page Numbers & Edition:
We painstakingly gathered these quotes from the Square Fish; Reprint edition (May 10, 2011), ISBN-13: 978-0312674397. Like Melinda’s unspoken words, page numbers can shift across editions! Always cross-check with your copy to root your citations.
Jeremy Mortis, founder of Ageless Investing, applies a rigorous analytical approach (the AAM framework) to distill timeless wisdom and contextualized quotes from classic literature, saving you time while deepening understanding. Learn more about Jeremy’s unique background and methodology on his author bio page.