Vocabulary in Speak

A division of the school year, usually nine weeks long, at the end of which students receive grades; used here as the novel's structural chapters.

A person who has been rejected or excluded by a social group, left without friends or belonging.

Small, exclusive groups of friends at school who stick together and shut others out.

So oppressive or overwhelming that it feels impossible to breathe or function; used here to describe an emotionally crushing social environment.

To cut open and examine a specimen in biology class; also used figuratively for being scrutinized or pulled apart by others.

Unable or unwilling to speak; here describing a deliberate, trauma-driven silence rather than a physical inability to talk.

Retches or vomits, or feels a strong wave of nausea; used to convey a physical reaction to extreme anxiety or distress.

A small storage room for cleaning supplies; used in the novel as a secret hiding place where the narrator retreats from the social world.

Optional school assignments done beyond normal requirements to raise a student's grade.

A student assigned to work alongside another on science experiments; the pairing carries social weight in the novel's school setting.

A school assembly held to build enthusiasm and school spirit, usually before a sports event; depicted here as a loud, alienating spectacle.

A punishment requiring a student to stay after school hours, used here both literally and as a marker of the narrator's social standing.

The right to vote in political elections; appears in a history or social-studies class context within the novel.

In biology, the movement of water through a membrane; used figuratively to mean absorbing information or feelings passively, without conscious effort.

A hard, smooth floor covering common in school hallways and cafeterias; its appearance signals the institutional, impersonal quality of the school.

A short daily class period at the start of the school day used for attendance and announcements, not academic instruction.

The administrative office of the school's head authority figure; being sent there signals serious trouble or disciplinary action.

Half of the academic year; used here to mark the passage of time and the narrator's slow emotional progress.

The school classroom dedicated to visual arts; serves as a sanctuary and a place of gradual healing for the narrator.

A symbolic animal or figure representing a school's sports teams, often worn as a costume at games and rallies.

A climbing vine that grows on walls; used in the novel as a recurring visual image tied to the narrator's inner world and art projects.

An official school document sent home to parents listing a student's grades and teacher comments for a marking period.

A school staff member whose role is to support students' academic and emotional wellbeing; the narrator's interactions with one reveal her isolation.

A deeply distressing experience, especially a violent or violating one, whose psychological effects persist long after the event itself.

To break silence and tell one's truth aloud, especially about a painful or shameful secret; the novel's central act and its title.