Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, chronicles the struggles of thirteen-year-old Melinda Sordino after she is a raped by at a party the summer before her freshman year of high school by another student. Melinda tells her story in first person narrative. Published in 1999, Anderson aimed to shed light on the subjects of sexual assault, mental health, and forming an identity throughout one's teenage years.