Love

Cedrika Pruitt'

Dear Wesley Scroggins,

My name is Cedrika Pruitt, I Go to Chalmette High School. Im currently in the 9th Grade. My Basic Comp. Class has just finshied reading "Speak" and I am writing you this letter in response to your artical about "Speak" being a soft Pornograph book, I strongly disagree with you.
"In Laurie Halse Anderson's "Speak" we follow the social and academic adventure of a female high school student named Melinda who was raped the summer before entering high school at a beer bash. In the novel, Anderson shows the difficulty for young women to fight for their rights and identity. Instead young girls like Melinda often fail to fight for themselves or fail to possess the knowledge and skills too. There is no sex in SPEAK. There’s really no mention of sex. It’s the story of a very courageous girl trying to move on after a horrific and tragic experience.
I’m appalled that you even considers rape to be porn. It’s a violent and criminal act, not a form of entertainment. SPEAK has a powerful message for the countless number of girls who have dealt with the same issue. It should never been banned. It should be part of the school curriculum.
I am proud to have read this, and proud that it was available to me. Simply hiding an emotional trauma brings more disaster to an already delicate and horrible situation. The courage that Malinda   had shown in this book has given me the courage to face my own situations. I’ve never been raped, but its certainly a situation that can happen to anyone. Don’t ban this book, it’s such an important topic for children who are growing up, still unsure of themselves and their bodies. There are plenty of people willing to take advantage of that.