Out of My Mind tells about an eleven-year-old girl named Melody Brooks. Melody has cerebral palsy, so she can’t walk, or talk. She knows thousands of words, phrases, and sentences, but she can’t tell anyone how smart she is. Her whole life she has struggled to show people how smart she is and it makes her very upset that she can’t tell people what she is thinking. Every day she wishes she could tell her parents that she loves them and cares about them, but she can’t. Melody is a very special and smart girl inside; she just has to show it.

During the story she faces more challenges then she ever has in her life. Finally, instead of learning the same Kindergarten stuff over and over she gets to experience more challenges in school. When she gets something that allows her to speak out and tell people what she is thinking, she begins to fit in more at school. When her Social Studies teacher, Mr. Dimmings, allows her to participate in something so big and important, the whole world gets to see how smart she really is. It’s amazing what kind of help Melody gets from her parents, her aid, Catherine, her neighbor, Mrs. V, and her teachers at school. They all help her achieve something so exciting.

Everything is going great, until her classmates and teacher let her down in a way that just might break her heart. There is no telling whether or not she will get over it. Sharon M. Draper does a wonderful job on telling Melody’s emotions, feelings, and thoughts in a way that is very hard for someone to do. Draper allows Melody to fill your head with thoughts like, “Wow, I never thought of not being able to talk or walk!” I give this book a four star rating. I recommend this book to anyone who likes a heartfelt story. This book is amazing!