In the book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, the main character, Melinda, is a normal girl in high school, but when she calls the cops during a party, everything takes a turn for the worse. Her friends won't speak to her, she's doing bad in almost every class except art, and she's afraid to speak. She needs to learn to speak up if she wants to get her friends back, or if she even wants to accomplish anything in life.
This may seem simple, however, throughout Speak, a reoccurring theme is the negative consequences for speaking up. Every time someone speaks up, they seem to get punished. While speaking up may seem daunting to Melinda, if she wants things to be better, she's going to have to face the consequences and speak up. At the point she is at now, what does she really have to lose? Her parents don't treat her well, she has no friends, she has bad grades, and it seems as though she might as well give speaking up a shot, because the worst case-scenario is that there is no difference in her current life. If she starts speaking, people will see her side of things, she will gain confidence, and she may even gain a few friends.
What Melinda really needs to do is look at her life and say, "What is the worst that can happen if I speak up?" If she does, she may realize that speaking is in her best interest, and is the first step in solving her problems.
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