Out of my Mind by Sharon Draper is a great young adult novel. Melody Brooks is an eleven year old girl with cerebral palsy. Although she is the smartest in her class, no one will know it because no one will see past her handicap. Out of My Mind brings you to feel and understand that a handicap does, in no way, prevent you from achieving great things. Although Melody struggles physically with everyday things that an average eleven year old is able to do, such as walking, talking, feeding themselves, and simply using the restroom, she can do a lot more mentally then any ordinary grade school student can dream of.

When Melody was in the fifth grade, she was put into inclusion classes where she got to interact and be in a normal classroom. That is when students and teachers first started to realize that how Melody looks and acts on the outside doesn’t reflect how she thinks on the inside. After a few weeks in Mr. Dimming’s history class, Melody received a perfect score on a history test that qualified her to be on the Whiz Kids team. That is where the best and brightest 5th and 6th grade students compete with other schools around the world. Melody is so excited to be on a team and finally feels normal. Her team makes it through the first round and is traveling to Washington to the national level.

Out of My Mind is the ultimate story that teaches you not to judge a book, or in this case a person, by its cover. It teaches you that despite handicaps, you can achieve greatness if you work hard and believe in yourself.