What I learned from my book club book, Out Of My Mind, is to never give up. In the book, Melody wants the MediTalker because it will allow her to be a step closer to normal. She doesn't give this up; she tries to tell her parents that she'd like the machine. It'll allow Melody to talk to her family, teachers, and classmates. Once she has this, she doesn't let her disability get in the way of anything else. Even though her classmates and teachers are rude to her, plus they underestimate her knowledge, she is determined to get onto the Whiz Kids team. In doing this, she shows them up once she scores perfectly on the practice quiz. I think the message of this book was to show the reader that all people are smart, and you can do anything if you don't give up on it.

I'd like to meet Mrs. V. from my book club book, Out of My Mind. She is a very understanding person, even to Melody, who can't talk or walk. For example, when Melody is upset because her classmates are rude to her at school, Mrs. V. finds a way through to her thoughts. I'd also like to meet Mrs. V. because she doesn't have pity on Melody for her disablity. She helps Melody through her troubles instead. When Melody was really young, Mrs. V.gave her confidence to do simple things normal people could do that were difficult for her to do, like rolling over. Mrs. V. taught Melody to not give up or underestimate herself. She helped Melody get onto the Whiz Kids team by practicing with her. The Whiz Kids team showed the rest of Melody's class that she was normal on the inside, normal or even above average with her brainpower. I think that Mrs. V. would be a very interesting person to meet for those reasons.

Favorite Literature Character

My favorite character in literature is Sophie from the book The Wanderer. In the book, Sophie changes through the story. In the beginning and since she was a child, Sophie doesn't accept the fact that her parents have drowned while out at sea- she refuses to believe it. Then, after she takes a journey across the ocean to see her grandfather, she understands that the parents she has now are just her adopted parents. Sophie, after she realizes this, becomes a more serious person than the dreamy girl that she was in the beginning of the book. She knows now that not everything in life is perfect as she thought at the start of the story. Also, she's more serious because she's experienced a raging sea that she thought was calm before. In the book, Sophie and her uncles and cousins are almost killed in a terrible storm that suddenly comes. I can relate to Sophie because we think similarly. When the big wave hits Sophie's small boat, all she thinks about is the safety of her uncles and cousins. I think that I would worry about them first thing also. We both are concerned about what happens to others.