Out of My Mind By Sharon M. Draper
Summary:
Melody is a girl that has an extraordinary mind and photographic memory to go with it. Her one tragic flaw is she has cerebral palsy. She can’t speak or write. People judged her and label her retarded. That changed when the school she was going to started the inclusion program the students from the special classes where to participate in the “regular” classes with the “normal” students. Melody was teased and but she found a friend in a girl named Rose. Melody later got a computer that allowed her to speak in a way. She got perfect scores on both pre-tests she took in a class and was allowed to join the Whiz kid competition team. They placed high in the regionals and were to go to Washington D.C. for finals. The day they were supposed to go, Melody was left behind. The weather caused her plane to cancel. Melody found out that her “friend”, Rose, was supposed to call let her family know about the flight but the whole team told her no. They only got a small trophy that they tried to give to her as an apology, but Melody just laughed and told them she didn’t want it and that they got what they deserved. Then she left.
Personal thoughts:
This book to me was kind of sad. Melody is a potential genius stuck in her own mind. She can't stand up for herself when people bully her and she can't get out what she's thinking, she can't even sit up on her own. I hated when the girls in her class called her stupid or accused her of cheating on the test she took, but luckily she had a strong foundation to lean on at home. After I finished the book I was pretty satisfied by the justice at the end. The team really did deserve the lame trophy they got and if I was Melody I wouldn't be so gracious as to forgive any of them anytime soon. But, to be honest, if
this were to happen today in a realistic setting, Mr. Dimming would probably get sued by Melody’s
parents, the media would be all over it and the kids and teacher...