“—I’m surrounded by thousands of words,” Sharon M. Dapper.
Out of My Mind written by Sharon M. Dapper is a fascinating novel, inspired by the real world and its problems. This novel follows the life of an eleven-year-old girl with the name of Melody Brooks. Melody Brooks was born with cerebral palsy,
(Cerebral Palsy is a condition that has an effect on the brain. Palsy meaning weakness or difficulties with using muscles. This condition is caused by abnormal brain development or damage that occurs while the baby is growing in the womb; it affects a person’s ability for someone to use their muscles).
Despite this set back that was caused by her condition, she was a highly intelligent fifth-grader, who hears sounds as colours and has the ability to taste images. Even with these great abilities, Melody wishes she was able to communicate with others, without such a disadvantage. On top of that, it doesn’t help that many people arrogantly question her intelligence because of her condition. Especially when Melody gets full marks during a Whiz Kids competition creating unnecessary tension in her class as her teacher and peers are shocked and even sceptical about her efforts and results. While she experiences much discrimination from the people around her, she gained much media attention resulting in many of her teammates to be jealous of her. Still, Melody pushes forward despite tackling the thoughts of her differences compared to others.
At the end of fifth-grade Melody discovers that she isn’t so different from the people around her. As she figures that she carries the same worries and attitudes as other fifth-graders. She then begins working on an autobiography for one of the last assignments for her class. Opening with “I’m surrounded by thousands of words,” the same words that prelude the beginning of the book.
Through this amazing book students will be able to understand a diverse range of people, distinction the differences between people who have different conditions, such as cerebral palsy. As the author wrote this with care and respect ensuring she wrote a character with CP realistically and effectively. Exposing yourself to these types of books can help you understand the world on a deeper level, and learn to respect others despite their differences. You can follow her journey of empowerment with the additional books “Out of My Heart” and “Out of My Dreams”.
* Some information in this review was obtained from SparkNotes.