Out of my Mind by Sharon Draper

One of my primary sources of book recommendations for YA fiction is the students I teach. I try to pay attention to what they are reading and when they tell me something is good, I try to read it. Sometimes it goes a step further and a student brings me in a book to read; those I really hustle to get through.

Out of my Mind was brought to me by a very enthusiastic student, Ansley. When she handed it to me in class a couple weeks ago a handful of other students spotted it and chimed in on how awesome it is. So I read it yesterday. It took me about four hours to get through so it's a very quick read, but also I got through it so quickly simply because it sucked me in.

Melody, the main character and point of view, was born with cerebral palsy. She can't communicate much and she can't do anything for herself that involves more than the use of her thumbs. Yet she is extremely intelligent and has an eidetic memory. She's trapped in a self-contained classroom with other cases of extreme disability with teachers who mostly don't even try to really reach her.

Things change in her fifth grade year with a new teacher who "gets it," new inclusion classes with regular kids, and a new para-pro who comes to assist her communication. Once the gate opens, Melody communicates better and better. However, not everything changes, she still has CP after all.

This book made me cry and it made me angry. On of the teachers pissed me right off. I don't know, as a teacher, how I would have handled the situation. I probably would not have handled it perfectly either but I know I wouldn't have been so senselessly cruel.

Ack, anyway it's a great book. I'm going to have to track down a couple copies for the school.