Melody is trapped in her own body. Born with cerebral palsy, she is unable to perform most of the basic physical functions that the rest of us take for granted. But her mind is significantly above normal. However, almost no one realizes that she has any intellectual capabilities. She attends school as part of the special education program, being partially integrated into the regular classroom, where kids are outright mean or awkwardly nice. When she gets a device that enables her to "speak" for the first time in her 11 years, people are shocked that she is like anyone else. Through her device, "Elvira" she is able to compete for a spot on the Whiz Kid team. With her photographic memory, she definitely earned a spot, which helped her school go on to be the team to compete in Washington D.C. The news media was so overtaken with Melody that the other team members felt left out. When Melody and her mom got to the airport they learned the flight had been cancelled and the rest of the team had taken an earlier flight without her. She was devastated. When Melody insisted on going to school and not take the day off feeling sorry for herself, Mom was distracted and Penny, Melody's little sister had gotten behind the car. Melody had tried to stop mom from reversing but couldn't without words, so Penny ends up being taken by ambulance to the hospital. In the end, Penny is fine, just a broken leg. The team ended up in 9th place and no one wanted to interview them without Melody. Melody faced the entire class and asked why they left her.
Overall reading this book I felt a wide range of emotions. I think it is a good book to read to upper elementary and middle school kids. It really puts in to perspective that just because someone is different than you, you shouldn't treat them with less respect.
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