(Update: Many people have told me in the comments that it *is* common for children with disabilities to be completely segregated from the rest of the school. I loved the first chapter of this book, but I grew more and more skeptical as it went on. If this was the case in the 1980s, it's hard for me to believe that educators in the 21st Century have regressed into the situation Melody finds herself in.

This is a personal issue: I went to elementary school with a boy who had CP and he spent only part of each day away from the rest of our class. It was a weird way to end the book, like the author wanted to crank up the melodrama in the end and she overdid it.Ħ. I thought the near-tragedy thrown in at the end of the book didn't really contribute to the story. I get annoyed when authors create completely flat villains.ĥ. The villains in this story (Molly and Claire, the bad teachers, and the stupid psychologist that gives Melody her initial intelligence test) are totally one-dimensional. If she's a perfect speller, couldn't she spell out 'I love you' to her parents? Wouldn't they take the time to allow her to do that? Better yet, wouldn't her parents seek out adaptive technology so they could communicate better with their child?Ĥ. It strikes me as unrealistic that Melody, with her super intelligence, couldn't communicate better using her low-tech talking board. (I've re-read sections of the book and I think it's Draper's overuse of exclamation points that makes her characters sound inauthentic and corny to me.)ģ. Other things that I think will date this book: MySpace, TiVo, and Nintendo Wii. Now, I still say things are 'the bomb,' but I'm a lot older than the kids in this book.

I've never heard anyone say, 'She is tripping,' without droppin' the g. an adult's version of what she thinks modern kids sound like). In fact, a lot of dialogue struck me as unrealistic (i.e. Do kids in the year 2010 say 'tight' anymore? I think Draper is trying to make Melody sound like an average kid, but to me she sounds like an adult trying to sound like a kid. This line was probably meant to sound poetic but comes off as a failed metaphor to me.Ģ. If a snowflake is melting in your hands, you've touched it. The phrase 'untouched in my hands' really bothers me. Many people love love love this book, so I'm going to skip the praise for now (you can read plenty of it elsewhere) and go straight to criticism:ġ.

Out of my heart sharon m draper