Justice for Melody

Think about your everyday life: you wake up each morning, brush your teeth, take a shower, go to school, talk with your friends and family, etc. Now imagine that you are not capable of doing any of these things on your own; not even being able to talk to express your thoughts and feelings. This is what life is like for Melody in Out of my Mind by Sharon M. Draper. Melody is a young ten and three-quarters old girl who is extremely intelligent and witty and is also living with severe cerebral palsy. The daily actions we take for granted are things she has never gotten to experience on her own. The worst part is that not people take one look at Melody and write her off as disabled and unintelligent throughout this novel. Because she is incapable of communicating like others, not many people have a real idea of who she is and what an amazingly thoughtful young girl she is. Despite these setbacks, Melody proves herself to be compassionate, intelligent, and incredibly determined. She knows that she will never be the same as others, but she is unique and strong and continues to push forward and be the best version of herself. A lot of people could learn to be more like Melody.

This book shows how often people tend to judge a book by its cover. People with disabilities get the brunt of these assumptions because they are seen as “different”. No one really knows what their life is like because they have never had to go through the same things and experience life like they do. The fact of the matter is that they are people, too. No one deserves to be judged by their appearance without knowing their heart. Melody had to live with these judgments her whole life, and because of this many people missed out on knowing a truly wonderful person. I really feel that this is a very valuable book for children to read, especially for older primary aged children. It is important for children to learn empathy and compassion early-on in life. Having these morals will help them go much further in life and just be overall better human beings. You can’t know someone unless you’ve walked a mile in their shoes. If you decide to judge someone before attempting to understand who they truly are, you might miss out on some really wonderful relationships.