Teaser & Review of Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper

Teaser Tuesday

On Kindle from Chapter 2

Everybody uses words to express themselves. Except me. And I bet most people don’t realize the real power of words. But I do.


Description

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, because Melody 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. Get ready to meet a girl whose voice you'll never, ever forget.


My Review

Amazon sent this one as a recommendation and the summary reminded me of my all time favourite Dibs, In Search of Self. This one gets 5 stars, a motivating story of hope and how you look at yourself and all those around us that are different.

Melody is eleven years old and has Cerebral Palsy and has a photographic memory, so she is brilliant, but unfortunately no one knows it accept her mom. Her mom is a true advocate for Melody beyond just being her mom and showing her love. She had to fight Doctors, teachers, people in general, those that you think will have the Melody’s future in mind just wrote her off, but even if she didn’t, Melody would have made her voice heard eventually. All the characters were so true, you loved many and wanted to shout at others but the whole time enjoying Melody, not feeling sorry for her as a handicapped child even though your heart broke at times, but Melody’s was also.

Out of My Mind is told from the view point of Melody, so we get to hear the genuine, honest voice, the attitude, the love, the sadness and the hard part of just growing up. You fall in love with her spirit immediately, she is like normal children and the book was remarkable on making sure you looked her as an individual, not a handicapped or learning disabled child.

This is a very motivating, touching story which I loved. I would recommend it to anyone especially children, teachers and parents that have interactions with mentally challenged, learning disabled children. If we took the time to appreciate and find the strength in others, life would be happier and more fulfilling.

I love walking away from a book feeling good.

I give it a 5 – Tea Time Perfection

Thank you for visiting Tea Time with Marce