Out of My Heart picks up Melody's story about a year after where Out of My Mind left off. Melody has made huge strides in being able to communicate, but she still feels isolated by the physical limitations of her cerebral palsy and has missed out on a lot of experiences that other kids her age take for granted. So, Melody goes to summer camp where she gets to swim, ride a horse, go zip lining, take a boat trip, make art, and sleep in a cabin with other girls. All of her new experiences at camp and initial nervousness about trying them will be really relatable for many kids. I thought it was really interesting to learn about the ways the activities were modified to make them safe and enjoyable for Melody and her fellow campers, and I loved the counselor character and how she gave Melody and her new friends the freedom to safely test their independence.

My only complaints are that the plot wasn't super thrilling and that Melody's internal dialogue felt a little forced and overly cheesy sometimes -- it felt very much like an adult writing what they *think* kids sound like but missing the mark a bit.

I think this book will be super popular at my school -- tons of kids love Out of My Mind and will be so excited to see what Melody does next.

Book 176 of 2021 and 30 of the school year is Out of My Heart by Sharon M. Draper. A huge thank you to #NetGalley for allowing me to read a digital ARC. This middle grades novel will be published tomorrow (11/8/21)!

In this sequel to Out of My Mind, Melody is back and she’s going to summer camp! With her new medication-talker, Melody is determined to not let anything stand in her way as she goes after what she wants. This summer, she wants to go to camp and make friends. She finds a camp for differently-abled kids that has hiking, campfires, arts and crafts, a zip line, and horseback riding. Though it puts her outside of her comfort zone she’s excited to go and maybe, for the first time, finally make a real friend.

This is a beautifully written book. I loved Out of My Mind and Out of My Heart is just as good. The book focuses on Melody and her camp experiences. There is a huge focus on how kids like Melody can participate in all the usual camp activities just with some slight modifications. It focuses on her feelings about herself, how she is treated by others, and her new found friendships. This isn’t an action-packed book; rather, it’s an emotion-packed book that will hopefully help develop and foster empathy in its readers.

#KidLit #MgLit #MiddleGradeLit #ReadingInTheMiddleGrades #TeachingInTheMiddleGrades #OutOfMyHeart #SharonMDraper #2021Reads #2021Books #2021ReadingGoal #TeacherReader #TeachersWhoRead

Sharon Draper’s Out of My Mind is one of the best middle grade books I’ve ever read. I recommend it all the time and students always fall in love with it. On Tuesday, the sequel, Out of My Heart, is out in the world, and it is just delightful!

Here’s what I loved:
Melody’s back!
Summer camp setting
Incredible friendships and first crushes

In this novel, Melody wants to try something new: summer camp! She researches and finds a camp for kids with disabilities, and is off on a new adventure. She’s nervous about being away from home but also excited to have a little more independence. Melody is strong and determined and readers will adore getting to spend more time with her. Highly recommended for all elementary and middle school libraries.

Biggest thanks to Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing, Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

I loved Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper and practically screamed when I saw this sequel on NetGalley. Friends, I am thrilled to say that this sequel is a beautiful follow-up to the original. Melody captured my heart in both books. She reminds me so much of my cousin who also has cerebral palsy and is non-verbal just like Melody. In this story, Melody wants to go to summer camp like so many other kids her age. Imagine her luck when she finds a camp for kids with differing abilities that's only 2 hours from home! When she gets accepted to the camp, she's both excited and nervous. Can she really go swimming, ziplining, and ride on a horse?! Pick it up and find out! I promise you will want to hug this book!

#OutofMyHeart #NetGalley

Melody is back in this new novel. This time she is excited to go to camp. There she will meet new friends (and a boy) and experience a lot of things she never thought she would.
Opinion
Oh my gosh, this book is so cute! It made me remember how awesome the first book was. If you have not picked up the first, read it before diving into this one. They can be read separately but they are so much better together.
I loved how the camp was able to provide normal experiences for Melody. (She has cerebral palsy.) This is definitely a book to help teach inclusiveness. This book was a joy from start to finish.
Many thanks to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Thanks to Netgalley for the arc!

I loved meeting Melody in Out of My Mind and was excited to see that a sequel is coming out since I was furious for her at the end.

Those who loved the first book will enjoy following Melody on her journey to Camp Green Glades - from her finding it with the help of her librarian to overcoming the obstacles to getting there. I was fascinated to read about how detailed the camp plans were for each student; we would all do well to learn about ways to make sure people of all abilities are included in spaces that we take for granted.

The main drawback for me was that I didn’t get hooked into the plot and some of it felt a bit forced.

Our heroine Melody from Out of My Mind has completed another less than perfect school year. Listening to her peers talk about summer camp makes her wonder: Could there be a camp for kids like me where I won’t feel so different? Melody takes matters into her own hands and does the research. Her camp experience has everything and more. Seeing her confidence build and her friendships grow was a total pleasure. This will be a great book to continue the process of building empathy and compassion for differently baled people. I’ll have to get multiple copies for my middle school library.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an EARC of this novel. The free copy did not influence my review.

Melody is back in a new installment of the Out of My Mind series. She is looking for a summer camp to go to-one that is for disabled kids like her. There is one close to her house, and seems almost too good to be true. After narrowly being accepted, she meets new friends and does lots of things that she was never able to do before.

This was a great continuation of the series! Out of My Mind is still popular today, so I think that fans of this series will pick this one up to find out what happened to Melody after the events of book one. Her friends were all very sweet and I especially loved the counselor. Overall, a good book.

Ages 8+

Thanks to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for the advance Kindle copy of this book. It is out on 11.9.21! All opinions are my own.
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5. I cannot wait to share this one with my students! Melody is back, and this time she is facing the new frontier of summer camp. It takes some convincing for her parents, and she has to conquer her fear of leaving her family for the first time ever, but she finds herself away for a week at a summer camp with kids who have disabilities. With an awesome counselor and new friends, she is about to do things she never thought possible. Fans of Out Of My Mind (and I have a ton of them!) will devour this. Buy extra copies.

It's been quite a few years since I read Out of My Mind, so --even though this is a sequel-- I think this book works well as a stand-alone, also.

I LOVED the setting of Out of My Heart, giving us a peek into how a camp for all kids works: 1:1 counselors, harnesses for horseback riding, zip-lining, and swimming, etc.

Melody has lots of wonderful adventures, makes great new friends, and even builds her first friendship with a boy she has a crush on.

The only thing I wished for was a list of ALL the songs mentioned in this book. I recognized quite a few by description or title, but a playlist for readers would be nice.

Thanks to NetGalley for the eArc in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

Melanie is on to her next adventure… summer camp. Just like everyone else. But this is a camp for young people with special needs, different abilities, kids like her. Naturally she is excited and terrified for this new adventure.
Once at camp, Melanie discovers she’s not so special, that she’s pretty normal mixed in with the other campers. And she LOVES this! So many adventures, so many new things, and the push, just like any kid, to have some time with her friends without being hovered over.
There is growth, reality, challenges, self-discovery, and love.
Another must read to open our eyes and get a peak into the life of someone so different.

Bravery, determination and spirit are the words I think of when I think of Melody, our irrepressible heroine of the “Out of my Mind” and “Out of my Heart” series. I certainly do not think of the word disabled, as she is certainly able to do, and capable of doing most everything her peers can do, with a little help and a few aids. As a fan of Sharon M. Draper, and a teacher of many other fans, I highly recommend this follow-up to Melody’s fictional, but oh-so-real story. Thank you NerGalley for this advanced eCopy. Fans of all ages will be thrilled.

Melody Brooks from <i>Out of My Mind</i> is back! Despite her cerebral palsy, her wheelchair, and her physical difficulties, Melody knows there's nothing wrong with her brain or her spirit. She hears the other kids at school talking about summer camp and she's determined to go to camp, too. So, Melody searches the internet and finds a camp for children with special needs like hers. After a little convincing, Mom and Dad are in on the plan and off we go.

There's not a lot of adventure or suspense in this story, but there's a lot of courage and a lot of heart. Anyone who enjoyed Draper's first novel about Melody will be thrilled to see what she's up to now. Horseback riding, painting, swimming, and even dancing are on the agenda!

This series is an amazing and crucial look into the mind of a child with cerebral palsy, indeed the mind of any child whose physical difficulties keep them from expressing themselves verbally. I absolutely love the honesty and respect with which Draper treats all her differently-abled characters and highly recommend both this book and the first one in the series to anyone who enjoys an underdog, a middle grade coming-of-age, or a heart-warming story. You'll love Melody Brooks!

Disclaimer: I received a free electronic copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I thought Out of My Mind was a terrific book, but in my opinion, this sequel does not live up to the original. I felt as if the author was checking off boxes - she wanted to show what the main character Melody can do: make friends, have a boyfriend, make independent decisions, etc. and it seemed very artificial. The characters checked off boxes in terms of ethnicity and disabilities. It seemed shallow to me. I was disappointed in this book.

I loved the first of these books when it came out when I was in elementary school, and this follow up did not disappoint. This book brought back so much nostalgia for me from when I had read this for the first time, and I loved diving back into this world. I think this will be a hit with elementary schoolers! Highly recommend :)

I really enjoyed reading more about Melody. This book has a slightly different feel than the first one. We get to see Melody really start to be able to do more for herself and realize her worth. She isn’t stuck in her own head anymore.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing for the opportunity to review an Advanced Reader Copy of this title.

Readers that fell in love with Melody in Out of My Mind will be excited to join her on further adventures in Out of My Heart by Sharon M. Draper. Fans know that Melody is notorious for overcoming challenges, but also that she often feels that she's stuck in her own mind and struggles to connect with her peers. In Out of My Heart, Melody convinces her family that she should attend a summer camp for differently-abled youth. Melody experiences a range of emotions about everything that awaits her at camp...swimming, horseback riding, zip lining, boating, and the possibility of new friends. Camp allows Melody to experience many things for the very first time, even things that she could have never expected even in her wildest dreams.

Draper does an excellent job of developing characters that are both likable and relatable. Although readers may not have shared in the same experiences as Melody, that have likely felt some of the same emotions or had similar thoughts at times. This title would be an excellent choice for middle grade libraries and classrooms.

#OutofMyHeart #NetGalley #Childrensbooks #ChildrensBookReviews

I was really excited to find that Sharon Draper had written a sequel to Out of My Mind. In Out of My Heart, the reader gets to follow up with Melody. This year, Melody goes to a camp that is for differently-abled kids. Melody was nervous to spend a week away from her family for the first time, but soon comes to love camp and all of the new experiences she gets to have. Melody makes new friends and lets go of her fears to try swimming, horseback riding and even zip lining. The only downfall to the book is that there is no climax in the plot. I did enjoy getting to see Melody enjoy camp without any issues.

A beautiful follow up to Sharon Draper's Out of My Mind. For anyone who read Melody's first story, it's truly like getting to spend time with an old friend. Melody has CP and is unable to walk, talk, and use her body the way typical kids can. But she never lets this stop her. With the help of Elvira, her computer who can speak for her, and her wheelchair, she's able to go to a special summer camp and make the memories of a lifetime.

What an absolute treat read. I have thought about melody often times over the years and recommended out of my mind to so many people. To be able to reconnect to an old friend and catch up was a real treat
Out of my heart was well researched and great writing and will be a book I will recommend
Thanks you for an advanced opportunity to read this book