Defend yourself! Speak! It's Melinda's first year of high school, something she had been looking forward to. But now everything feels like a bad dream: her friend has cut her off, and the new classmates are cold and distant. Melinda is labeled as a troublemaker since she called the police at that party but refused to explain why. She can't and won't talk about it. It takes a year, an entire school year, for Melinda to find her voice again – and with it, the strength to stand up for herself.