Out of my Mind

Out of My Mind

By Sharon M. Draper

This is a stunning book.
Like R.J. Palacio's novel Wonder, this story is told from a perspective most of us will never experience or fully understand.
Melody Brooks is 11 years old, smart as anything (with a photographic memory to boot), and she has cerebral palsy. She is unable to walk, control her body, eat by herself, or talk.
And she really has things to say.
A special computer she names Elvira finally enables Melody to communicate with the people around her--her loving family, her teachers, and the kids at school. She becomes a member of the school's Whiz Kids quiz team, but never feels exactly like one of the team...
READ THIS BOOK. Seriously.

I forgot to add: Out of My Mind won the 2013 California Young Reader Medal for the Middle School category last May!

The Giver Quartet

The Giver
Gathering Blue
Messenger
Son
By Lois Lowry

This summer I decided to check out the whole Quartet from the library--well, actually just the three books following The Giver, because I had already read that one and written about it here.
What a treat! I enjoyed so much how characters appear and reappear throughout the different stories, and how themes weave together and overlap.
In Gathering Blue, we learn about the difficult life of young Kira, and also of her special gift--which the leaders in her community are trying to manipulate in order to control the future.
Messenger is the story of Matty, who was just a rascal of a boy in Gathering Blue. He too has a special gift he is learning to understand and use for good. The depictions of the Forest are creepy and unnerving in this one!
And finally, in Lois Lowry's latest wonderful book Son, Jonas and Kira from previous stories are again important characters...but this is the story of Claire, a "Birthmother" from the same community in The Giver, searching for her stolen son, Gabe.