Book #3- Tearjerker

Out of my Mind

BY: Sharon M. Draper

Synopsis (from Barnesandnoble.com):

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.
From multiple Coretta Scott King Award winner Sharon M. Draper comes a story full of heartache and hope. Get ready to meet a girl whose voice you'll never, ever forget.

So, What do I think?

Overall: I cried like a little baby throughout this entire book. I sat behind my desk at school and tears were streaming down my cheeks. My students kept handing me tissues and laughing at me when I blew my nose. I LOVED this book. This book changed my life. I work at a school with Life Skills students and I never thought twice about sitting and having a conversation with them. I had just assumed that they couldn't interact back. After reading this book I will never feel that way again. This book changed my life.

Characters: I wish that all children who had special needs had a family like Melody. A mother and father who would do anything for their child and strive for the best education for them. Sadly, that is not always the case. Melody is such a strong character and I think that if Draper had made her a sad, non-opinionated character, the book would not have been what it was. The children in the story that go to her school are just like the kids at mine. They stare and make comments because they don't know anything different.

Flow: I think the flow of the story really made a difference in the way I read it. It took awhile for you to get to the meat of the story, but it was the journey to get to that point that made the book special. I would not have liked it as much if everything had happened really fast in the beginning. It really let you get to know Melody as a person before certain things happened in the story.

Googie's Grade: 5 out of 5 stars!

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