Out Of My Mind - Entry 3

Wow. That's really all I can say. This book completely changed my perspective on not just people with disabilities, but self-confidence. As I explained in my last post, Melody struggles with communication, causing people to judge her and treat her as though she isn't 'normal'. Right when I continued reading I learned that Melody was going through with her plan to participate in the quizzing tournament. To decide who would be on the team, she had to take a test, just as the rest of the students had to. Now, unlike the other students, Melody has an aid that helps her. Her classmates, being the ignorant fifth graders they are, began complaining that Melody would use her aid to cheat, which was unfair. Of course, Melody didn't let it get to her and even told her aid to leave to prove to the rest of her class she was just as good as them. Turns out she's actually better; she was the only person to get every single question right. She joined the team, and ultimately led them to nationals. Now, this is where the book got interesting, as if it wasn't intriguing enough already. Nationals were being held in Washington, D.C, meaning that Melody and her team needed to take a plane there. So, when Melody arrived at the airport, her and her family learned that the team had left without her, leaving on an earlier flight because the flight they were originally supposed to be on was cancelled due to severe weather. As most kids would, Melody got up. She began to second guess her decision to even be on the team, feeling as though they purposely left her behind in order to look like a 'normal' team. She was down, but got right back up and went to school to confront the entire team about the mishap. She learns that her so-called friend refused to call and notify Melody of the change of plans, after repeatedly being asked by the coach to do so. This isn't even the part that caused me to walk away from this book in shock and feeling changed. In the very beginning of the book, Melody got an assignment to write an autobiography. This book was what she handed into the teacher for the assignment. It was actually quite amazing to realize that the entire book was a circle. As Draper wrote the very first words of the book, "Words. I'm surrounded by thousands of words. Maybe millions" (1). Then again, Draper writes the exact same sentence, followed by the exact same paragraphs at the very end of the book, "Words. I'm surrounded by thousands of words. Maybe millions" (294). That just blew my mind. I would without a doubt recommend this book to anyone. It's a quick read, one that will really change your perspective on life.