Tani: "Eleven-year-old Melody is a genius, but no one knows it because her cerebral palsy prevents her from walking, talking, and writing. Her life is changed when she gets an electronic communication board, but will the kids in her school and the adults in her life finally accept her for who she really is?

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I'm an adult and I was in a graduate program for teaching students with disabilities when I read Out of My Mind. This fictional account of a child with a disability completely illuminated my perspective because it shows how the struggles that you see on the outside aren't always indicative of what's inside.

A particularly meaningful moment in the book for me was when Melody was being given an IQ test by a doctor. The doctor showed her a picture of an apple, a cherry, a banana, and a red balloon, then asks her to select the image that doesn't belong. Since the book is told from Melody's perspective, we can 'hear' her deliberating over whether she's supposed to pick the red balloon because it's not a fruit or the banana because it's not red and round. Ultimately, she chooses the banana, and this is the 'wrong"'answer. But because Melody cannot explain her reasoning to the doctor due to her cerebral palsy, he assumes that it's because of low intelligence. Her disability prevents her from showing some really creative thinking skills.

As a special education teacher, it really makes me think about how quick we can be to sort children into categories, focusing on all of the things that they CAN'T do while completely overlooking the wide number of strengths they have. 
 

Since this is a middle-grade book, it should be a quick read for most adults. I believe that it's an excellent peek into the mind of a child with one type of disability, but you can easily see how the underlying principles are applicable to all."