Is Tween Life Accurately Portrayed in Realistic Fiction?

Reflection:  Read a contemporary realistic fiction book this week.  Does this match a common experience of tweens?

Subjects: Contemporary Realistic Fiction, Speak, Everyday Tween Life Reflected in Fiction

Contemporary realistic fiction stories are plausible stories set in the present day world.  They are filled with themes about coming of age experiences, peer relationships, and family life.  Realistic everyday tween situations and how tweens react to them are a large part of what contemporary realistic fiction is. 

I read the book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (2009) which chronicles Melinda’s freshman year of high school.  Just prior to school starting, Melinda was raped during a party.  She called the cops but ran away instead of telling them what happened to her.  A lot of her fellow students got in trouble for underage drinking when the cops came and are now mad at her.  Melinda struggles with everyday life, struggles simply to speak, and struggles to move past what happened to her.  It takes an entire year, but eventually Melinda is able to confront her rapist and is able to start speaking. 

This is a story about a girl who’s trying to cope with an extremely traumatic event all on her own.   In the introduction of the special anniversary edition of Speak, Anderson (2009) mentions all the different letters and emails she received from different teens and adults who were in Melinda’s very situation.  Rape shouldn’t be a common experience for anyone, but it does happen. 

In an interview, Anderson mentions how she has heard from readers who were not raped but who saw a piece of themselves in Melinda (Staino, September 23, 2010, School Library Journal).  This is because Speak is also about being a teenager in high school.  Anyone who is or once was a teenager will empathize with Melinda's silent pain while laughing inwardly at the many cliques described and the number of times the “inappropriate” school's mascot is changed (Schwartz, n.d).   Speak teaches teenagers that their feelings are worthy of attention and that what they have to say matters and can create positive change (Teen Blogger, September 30, 2010, YALSA).  Speak accurately portrays what teens sometimes say and what they don’t say.  It is a plausible story set in anywhere, USA.  It explores themes about growing up, friendships, and family.  Speak chronicles both Melinda’s everyday and unique situation and how she handles these experiences.  Speak is a wonderful example of contemporary realistic fiction.

Reference:

Anderson, L. (2009). Speak. New York, NY: Penguin Group. c1999.