Out of My Mind

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A book for young readers by Sharon Draper about a young girl with cerebral palsy.

Eleven-year-old Melody has a photographic memory. Her head is like a video camera that is always recording. Always. And there’s no delete button. She’s the smartest kid in her whole school -- but no one knows it.

Most people -- her teachers and doctors included -- don’t think she’s capable of learning, and up until recently her school days consisted of listening to the same preschool-level alphabet lessons again and again and again. If only she could speak up, if only she could tell people what she thinks and knows. But she can’t. She can’t talk. She can’t walk. She can’t write.

Being stuck inside her head is making Melody go out of her mind -- that is, until she discovers something that will allow her to speak for the first time ever. At last Melody has a voice... but not everyone around her is ready to hear it.

You can read some of Draper's thoughts on it, as well as an excerpt from the first chapter, on her website here.

Tropes used in Out of My Mind include:

• Alpha Bitches - Molly and Claire, who delight in making fun of Melody and the rest of the special education H-5 kids.
• Crowning Moment of Heartwarming - The first time Melody speaks to her parents is almost guaranteed to be a Tear Jerker for anyone with a loved one who has a mental condition... or anyone with a soft heart.
  • Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad. I am so happy... I love you.
• Everybody Hates Mathematics - Math is Melody's one weakness, though it is justified as her being good with pictures and words... not numbers. She is able to do math by creating pictures in her head.
• Precious Puppies - Melody was just ecstatic to get little Butterscotch for her birthday.
• Genius Cripple / Inspirationally Disabled - Our heroine, obviously. It's the whole point of the book.