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Chapters
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Chapters
Chapters at a glance
Speak has 17 chapters.
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Chapters17 items
First Morning
Melinda Sordino starts ninth grade at Merryweather High already an outcast. Her former friends have cut her off, and she has no idea where to sit on the bus or who to talk to.
Homeroom Havoc
Melinda navigates homeroom and gets her first real look at the social geography of Merryweather High. The school's cliques are already locked in, and Melinda belongs to none of th…
My Report Card
Melinda reflects on how she is doing across her classes and her life in general, and the answer is badly. She is failing to engage with school, with teachers, and with the idea of…
Welcome to Merryweather High
Melinda gets a broader tour of Merryweather's culture through assemblies, hallway politics, and the general atmosphere of the school.
The Lunch Tableists
Melinda tries to figure out where to sit in the cafeteria and ends up with a loose group of misfits she calls the Lunch Tableists.
Seminars and Speakers
Melinda sits through a series of school assemblies and seminars that are supposed to help students but feel hollow and performative to her.
The Beast Prowls
Andy Evans, the boy who raped Melinda at the end-of-summer party, begins to appear more visibly in her daily school life.
Halloween
Halloween arrives and Melinda watches the holiday from the outside. The costumed chaos at school gives her a brief moment of observational distance, since everyone is performing a…
Thanksgiving
The Thanksgiving holiday puts Melinda in close quarters with her family, and the dysfunction there becomes clearer. Her parents are distracted, disconnected from each other, and n…
Christmas Break
School lets out for winter break and Melinda has unstructured time that should be a relief but mostly exposes how empty her life has become.
Second Marking Period
Melinda moves into the second marking period still barely functioning. She has claimed an abandoned janitor's closet as her private hideout, a place where she can escape the noise…
Defrosting
Something small starts to shift. Melinda's art class assignment pushes her to keep working on a tree, and Mr.
Art
Art class becomes the emotional center of Melinda's school year. She keeps working on her tree, and Mr.
Third Marking Period
The third marking period raises the stakes. Melinda is still failing most of her classes, and the school year is running out.
Spring
Spring is where the novel breaks open. Melinda finally tells Rachel the truth about Andy in a note.
Fourth Marking Period
Melinda finally starts to find her footing. She puts real effort into her art project, stops skipping school as often, and begins to let small things matter again.
Speak
The novel ends with Andy Evans cornering Melinda in her old hideout at school. He tries to assault her again.
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