Fall 2021: Wild Readers Group 5 discussion

For this book review, I read “Out of My Mind”, by Sharon M. Draper. The story is about how a young girl with cerebral palsy named Melody Brooks learned to show her intelligence to her peers around her. Melody grew up with a severe disadvantage and was recommended by doctors to be separate from everyone else her age and be put into a school for the disabled. Her mother didn’t listen to this advice and knew Melody was truly intelligent so she put her in the public Elementary school nearby. Melody throughout the years showed the bullies and the people who didn’t believe in her at all, that she was in fact a genius for her age and I think this is important because personally, I think too many people are used to judging others based on preconceptions when in reality they just haven’t gotten to truly understand one another. For people like Melody, this is important because she could’ve gone her whole life without being recognized for her brilliance, and if people don’t take a second to see past the disadvantages someone like Melody is born with then they cannot begin to see the giftedness they also hold. Even after realizing that Melody’s intellect was higher than that of her peers, they still left her behind when leaving for the Whiz Kids competition. I think this is evidence in itself that when people become stuck on these preconceptions, they fail to measure the true capacity of whomever they have judged. Overall, I enjoyed this book because, in the end, Melody finally realized her true potential and worth, and stood up to those who had judged her before.