Analysis Of Out Of My Mind By Sharon M. Draper

The novel Out of my Mind, by Sharon M. Draper is about an eleven year old girl with cerebral palsy named Melody Brooks. She can’t walk, talk, eat, or use the restroom on her own. She has a photographic memory and is the most intelligent student in her grade, but nobody knows of this talent until she gets a device called a Medi-Talker that allows her to communicate easier. There are several themes that shine through within this book. Acceptance, determination, and the power of words are shown many times as you get further into the book. First of all, acceptance is a major theme in this novel. Melody is not accepted by many of her classmates and teammates and she is aware of it. She is usually in a special education classroom, but things change and she is allowed to go to a “normal” classroom. Nobody wanted to sit next to her on the first day except Rose. Melody’s Wiz Kid’s team did not want her on the team, so when they left to go to Washington, D.C., they decided not to call her and let her know that they were getting on an earlier flight. Another example of acceptance is when Melody eats for the first time in front

When Melody was a baby, she wasn’t able to roll over. So, Mrs. V taught her to push herself over and lay on her stomach. Another example is when Melody was determined to get onto the Wiz Kids team, so she studied very hard everyday. She got every question right on the practice test and her peers and Mr. Dimming believed that she cheated and got help. She was determined to prove them wrong and get on the team. When Melody was asked if she wanted to stay at Mrs. V’s house she replied with “Yes. Yes. Yes. I want to do this.” (Draper 163). On the day of the actual test to see who gets on to the team, Melody was very nervous and didn’t think she would do very good. She ended up getting 100% on that test as well and her teacher apologized for underestimating