Out of My Mind

Draper, S. (2012). Out of my mind. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

The cover of this book does not do it justice. The story is wonderful. The main character Melody has so many different layers to her. Her body is disabled, which is what the world sees of her. Her mind is brilliant. Only her parents and Mrs. V are able to see how special she is until her school starts inclusion classes. She begins attending class with students her own age that are "normal." One day she is able to get a computer that can talk for her. Her world starts to open one pedal at a time. She wants to be seen by the other kids as an equal and worthy of their time. She enters the contest to be part of the quiz team. She scores the highest out of the 5th and 6th graders. She studies hard with the team but does not feel part of the team. She must work through her struggles and come to terms with who she is and what she really wants from other people. 

The book is a great book about diversity and adversity. Readers get to see what it would be like to not have a voice or a working body. The fishbowl on the cover could symbolize her looking out into the world from her fishbowl prison. What do you think the fish bowl on the cover symbolizes?