Speaking Up

SPOILER ALERT!          
             I am reading a book called Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. It is about a girl named Melinda Sordino who hasn't talked much since an end of the summer party. She likes to live inside of her head. Like any other person or character, Melinda is complex. She has her strengths as well as her weaknesses. From being out to looking in, one might think that Melinda has mostly weaknesses, but I think she is stronger than most people can infer.
            Melinda Sordino may seem insecure, and it may appear that she has too many problems to count. She might have some insecurities, and she may have problems, but who doesn't? It is very unlikely that there is a single person on this planet that doesn't have any issues. Although these things may be true, she also has strengths, and many of them. Melinda Sordino is one of the strongest characters I have ever read about. She had the guts to call the police on a teen party. She had the ability to overcome peer pressure, and not many people can do that. Melinda Sordino also isn't giving the "silent treatment" to everybody. From what I have observed and inferred, she isn't giving in to everybody that wants her to. I cannot connect to her in this way because if I were in her position, I might crack. I would be apologizing and apologizing until people forgave me. Melinda didn't, she stayed strong.
            Melinda Sordino is an incredibly strong character. She was almost raped. Most any other person or character would be to scared to do anything. If they did fight back, many of them wouldn't win. For example, in Crank, by Ellen Hopkins, the main character Kristina gets date raped, and ends up getting pregnant. In Speak, Melinda literally fights her way out of it. Getting raped (or almost raped) is a huge struggle, and people can go into depression or or anything else that might be caused because of it. Melinda just walked away. Of course she had some issues about it, but who wouldn't? That is very traumatic. Melinda is a very strong character, and I admire her.