How can Melinda's predicament from Speak be connected to the predicaments that adolescents face today?

I think that one of the most profound elements from
Anderson's book is the notion of finding one's voice.  Speak is powerfully compelling in
this regard.  Naturally, Melinda endures the rape, which is the silencing of her voice. 
This speaks quite vividly to adolescents who are forced to endure such a violation.  In
this way, the novel speaks to a cross section of adolescents.  However, this is only the
beginning of Melinda's reclamation of voice.  The social ostracizing that Melinda
undergoes forces her to reevaluate who she is and how she is perceived.  It also compels
her to fully grapple with the fundamental questions that govern all existence:  "Who am
I?" and "What shall I do?"  The novel provides much in way of opening this dialogue with
all readers, proving to be particularly relevant to adolescents who might not possess
the tools to open such a needed and profound discussion with themselves and the people
in their world.  Melinda's experiences with adults who continue the process of silencing
voice helps to give further tools and understanding as to how to deal with such
realities that other adolescents experience.  Finally, I think that being able to write
about how to "speak" a voice of dissent that is true to individual conceptions of self,
as opposed to a conformist vision is a reality that more adolescents need to
understand.  In a setting where so much social conformity is embraced and almost forced
down the throats of adolescents, Anderson's work is one that "speaks" to the idea that
the individual quest for identity is one that has to take place outside the context of
social realms and that it is better to be in a psychological place of comfort than an
socially constructed realm where individual voices are silenced and are not allowed to
"speak."