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by: Sharon M. Draper
Simon & Schuster Recommended Age: 10 years and above
Lexile: 700L
Sensitive Topic(s): N/A
"Melody, the huge-hearted heroine of Out of My Mind, is a year older, and a year braver. And now with her Medi-talker, she feels nothing’s out of her reach, not even summer camp. There have to be camps for differently-abled kids like her, and she’s going to sleuth one out. A place where she can trek through a forest, fly on a zip line, and even ride on a horse! A place where maybe she really can finally make a real friend, make her own decisions, and even do things on her own—the dream!
By the light of flickering campfires and the power of thunderstorms, through the terror of unexpected creatures in cabins and the first sparkle of a crush, Melody’s about to discover how brave and strong she really is." (book summary)
What I Thought:
This was my first book of 2022, and I'm so happy that it was because it was the perfect book to start the new year. Out of My Heart is the sequel to the highly-acclaimed and known #1 New York Times Bestseller Out of My Mind. This book only came out in November, but I have been waiting since about August, I think, to read this book (ever since I found out there was going to be a sequel) It was really fun to see Melody doing all sorts of things that she had never even thought she could, and beginning to see the confidence and control and trust (which must not have been easy to give, given the Whiz Kids incident that happened in 5th Grade.) I also loved seeing the more comfortable side of her at camp, where she was surrounded by friends who actually got it and could relate to her experiences and whom she knew wouldn't make fun of her. To be honest, I was a bit sad seeing Melody doing the things that are such a milestone for her, yet so ordinary for me. That would include swimming, ziplining, horseback-riding, and even painting and hiking. In addition, I loved how apprehensive her family (including her four-year-old sister, Penny!) were to let her go to camp. As Penny said, one time in the book,
"But as soon as Mom picked Penny up to get her loaded into the car seat, Penny cried out, 'Where's Dee-Dee?'
'Dee-Dee's going to stay here for a couple of days, sweetie,' I heard Mom tell her.
'All by herself? In the forest?' Penny looked shocked.
'Yes, it's a summer camp for big girls like Melody,' Dad told her. 'She won't be alone. We talked about this last night, remember?'
'But I didn't know you were gonna leave her! There are wolves in the woods! And dragons!' Penny wailed. She wiggled and twisted in Mom's arms, sobbing." (page 67 and 68, on Kindle)
Out of My Heart can be read as a stand-alone book, but I'd suggest you read Out of My Mind first to get the context when she refers to the Whiz Kids competition that took place in Out of My Mind or any other experiences that she may talk about during the book.
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