Kelley Reading Exp – Plot diagram Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson Melinda remembers the party where she got raped by IT. Andy (the rapist) traps Melinda in a coat closet and tries to rape her again. Melinda finally is able to say no, and she breaks a mirror to hold glass against his neck. A quiet boy speaks to Melinda and they become friends. She also starts getting together with her old friend Ivy, who helps her with her situations. Melinda becomes a little bit more normal. Her old friend Nicole, finds them in the closet and tells everyone what happened. At the party, Melinda was drunk had called the cops because Andy had raped her, not because she was trying to crash the party. Melinda’s first friend leaves her to go hang out with the “perfect” kids. Mel’s parents are fighting with her and each other, she skips classes, and she begins self-­‐inflicting pain. Melinda Sordino has just started high school as an outcast because of what happened over the summer. All of her old friends hate her, her enemies hate her, even people who don’t know her hate her. Throughout the story, Melinda is working on an art theme of “tree”. At first her trees were bad, they were twisted and scarred. Towards the end Mel’s trees start to have more life in them, like healing trees. These trees are a symbol of Melinda and reflect on her life. In the end, everyone knows what really happened. Her friends say sorry, she becomes popular in one day, and everyone finally understands. Melinda learns to speak up for herself. The summer before high school, Melinda went to a party where there was drinking and drugs. She got raped by Andy (IT) so she called the cops. All the other people had thought she on them, so everyone started to hate her.