Revised Reading Response

 "The kids behind me laugh so loud I know they are laughing about me. I can't help myself. I turn around." The critical thinking question I chose to think about while reading Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson was 'What really hard things are happening in this text? Are these things happening in the world now? Where?'
      Something I thought about while reading this were the hard things that occur. One problem that affects the main character, Melinda is bullying and feeling left out. I noticed this problem early on in the book when Melinda starts her first day of high school. She immediately gets labeled 'outcast' because she has no one to sit with and people laugh and talk about her behind her back. I believe that this problem of bullying and feeling like an outcast does happen around the world now to some people. I think this issue occurs in most schools like in the text. Bullying can also happen around the world in many places by many people.
     Another hard issue I noticed in this text was rape. The main character also faces this issue throughout the book without even noticing that she was a victim of it. Throughout the book she struggles to face the reality that the reason she is an outcast is because she called the police at a party where she had been raped. This issue is not only in the moment it happens, but the aftermath of it. Many victims don't realize what happened or choose not to talk about it. The issue in the text is that she chooses not to speak about it. This issue does happen in the world today and is a big problem because in some countries it is not seen as an issue. an example of this is in the book Sold by Patricia McCormick. In this text a thirteen year old girl gets sold into prostitution and no one is concerned, including her father. She is then brought to a house filled with other girls her age, all who have also been sold and some which are mothers. This is why I believe rape is a big issue in this text and in the world.
     In conclusion there are many issues in the book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson including bullying and rape. These are issues that are seen around the world that are not always being addressed.