A New York Times bestseller and now an original film on Disney+! From award-winning author Sharon Draper comes a story that will forever change how we all look at anyone with a disability, perfect for fans of R. J. Palacio’s Wonder. Eleven-year-old Melody has a photographic memory. Her head is like a video camera that is always recording. Always. And there's no delete button. She's the smartest kid in her whole school – but NO ONE knows it. Most people – her teachers and doctors included – don't think she's capable of learning, and up until recently her school days consisted of listening to the same preschool-level alphabet lessons again and again and again. If only she could speak up, if only she could tell people what she thinks and knows ... but she can't, because Melody can't talk. She can’t walk. She can’t write. Being stuck inside her head is making Melody go out of her mind – that is, until she discovers something that will allow her to speak for the first time ever. At last Melody has a voice ... but not everyone around her is ready to hear it. ‘A gutsy, candid, and compelling story. It speaks volumes.’ School Library Journal (starred review) ‘Unflinching and realistic.’ Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Out of My Mind

Considered by many to be mentally retarded, a brilliant, impatient fifth-grader with cerebral palsy discovers a technological device that will allow her to speak for the first time.

OUT OF MY MIND is a delightful, eclectic collection of engaging narratives by author Martha Wood. These were developed as the author's mind was, as she puts it, "Set free to play." Written in short story style, some of the anecdotes are amusing, as in Funny Names, or Things I Always Wanted to Do, But Thank God I Haven't; some serious like It Shouldn't Hurt..., or The N Word; some fictional such as Elizabeth, the Queen, or Treasures from the Attic; some poignant as in No One Ever Says, "Hi," or Where Sorrow and Gladness Meet; while yet others are instructive like Dealing with the Odor, and Until We Eat Again. For a little mystery, there is The Gunslinger, and Congratulations on a Dedicated Life. All, though, give voice to thoughts set free and permitted expression.

We need a whole new mind to thrive in the twenty-first century, says Daniel Pink. As theologians we cannot escape the transition from the information age to the conceptual age of the twenty-first century. In the information age the theologian could give answers based on the best information, but in the twenty-first century information is on hand. Empathy and understanding however are in scant supply today. In the information age there was no room for doubt; certainty was the hallmark of a successful information worker. But today uncertainty is a certainty, thanks to globalization, the information revolution and even quantum mechanics. Uncertainty has been grafted into our collective consciousness. It therefore cannot be theological business as usual. It cannot be about giving answers; it is more about finding the best questions to be answered. It cannot be about winning theological arguments; it is more about living in God's regenerative story while we find ourselves in the liminal space of uncertainty. It cannot be about holding strong opinions; it is more about creating space for life, to allow God's generosity to flow through us. Out of My Mind tells the story of such a transition.

On the surface these koan-like reflections appear to be amusing word games, but each one exposes and probes layers of human nature in pursuit of the examined life. A mind sensitive to its own foibles might recognize in these meditations a novel aid to introspection, inviting the reader’s focused participation, while the tone of self-mockery releases tension through laughter.

OUT OF MY MIND

Out Of My Mind

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