Out of My Heart

Sharon M. Draper’s bestseller Out of My Heart (2021) returns to the story of Melody Brooks, a precocious and artistic 12-year-old with cerebral palsy. The story follows Draper’s 2013 novel Out of My Mind. Melody uses a wheelchair and communicates via her Medi-Talker, a computer device. Melody relates her experiences attending a one-week summer camp designed for kids with unique needs. The camp challenges Melody, now on her own far from home and her loving family. Melody participates in a wide range of camp activities like zip-lining, swimming, and horseback riding. Each new challenge enhances her perception of herself and what she can accomplish when she sets her mind to it. In the process, Melody makes new friends, develops her first crush, and by the end of the week, feels part of a group for the first time in her life.

In sharing her experiences, Melody defies her sense of her own limitations. The novel illustrates Melody’s growth as she comes to a broader perception of her own capabilities each day at camp. In the process, Melody learns important lessons about defying the narrow-minded stereotypes others have of neurodivergent individuals. Ultimately, she comes to understand the value of friendship, something her experiences with her peers in her school have not shown her.