Review: Out of My Mind By Sharon M. Draper

On a blue background, an orange goldfish jumps from it's bowl of water on the left of the image to the upper right.  On the bottom, there is a darker blue rectangle with the title in small, white words and the name of the author in a lighter blue across the bottom.

Melody, a brilliant eleven-year-old with severe Cerebral Palsy, receives an assisted communication device.  With the ability to voice her thoughts for the first time, she tries out for the school quiz team.  But not everyone is glad Melody can participate.

~*~*~*~

I loved Melody!  She’s funny, smart, and complex.  She longs for all the things “normal” kids have without falling into total pity and despair.  She loves her family intensely.

Melody is surrounded by people who want her to succeed.  Her parents are fierce in their love for her, advocating for her.  Her neighbor babysits for her and her baby sister, and is one of her first major allies.  A new aide at school helps open up her world.

But, for everyone who is good for Melody, there are people who dislike her.  There are teachers throughout her life who make things harder on her.  Students in her integrated classes make fun of her. 

The first eleven (or so) chapters of the book are like short stories of Melody’s life.  One is about the goldfish she lost.  Another is about her mom’s pregnancy and the fear her baby sister would be disabled, too.  The chapters follow the order of Melody’s life, so the reader is able to perceive her growing up.

The settings are okay.  They aren’t overly descriptive, they just have enough detail for a reader to visualize them.

Even though this book is for “kids”, I had no trouble relating to it.  The author doesn’t over-explain or gloss over the more difficult aspects of Melody’s life. 

In one scene, Melody’s quiz team goes out to eat at a restaurant.  The handicapped-accessible entrance doesn’t work, so Melody has to be maneuvered up the steps outside by her mother.  Once inside, her teammates make conversation with each other, without involving her.  Melody dreads eating in front of her peers because she needs assistance and doesn’t want them to see.  It is an uncomfortable scene, but an honest one.

 A couple of minor plot points felt like they didn’t really lend much to the story, but that’s all I can really say in regards to negatives.

I got teary-eyed twice reading this book, the first time being when Melody was finally able to tell her parents she loved them using her device.  I also smiled and became angry at different parts. What happens to Melody before the national quiz competition wasn’t shocking, but was infuriating nonetheless. 

This is definitely a worthwhile read.

~*~*~*~

Author Biography:  Sharon Draper is a two-time Coretta Scott King Award-winning author, most recently for Copper Sun, and previously for Forged by Fire. She's also the recipient of the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Author Award for New Talent for Tears of a Tiger and the Coretta Scott King Author Honor for The Battle of Jericho and November Blues. 

Her other books include Romiette and Julio, Darkness Before Dawn, and Double Dutch. She lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, where she taught high school English for twenty-five years. She's a popular conference speaker, addressing educational and literary groups both nationally and internationally.

~*~*~*~

There are books where (I wish) I could spoil the entire plot because I want to tell you so badly what scenes caused me to love (or hate) a novel. 

I’ve also thought about live-tweeting a book.  Maybe someday.

A quick note:  After today, this blog will be on hiatus until June or July.  I have a lot of things going on in my life right now, and I don’t have anyone I trust to take the reins while I’m gone.  I will still be on Twitter and checking my email.

Diverse Writers/Diverse Worlds Grants, Updated Markets

The Diverse Writers and Diverse Worlds grants are open to speculative fiction writers.  Applications close July 31st.

The $500 Diverse Writers grant is intended to support new and emerging writers from underrepresented and underprivileged groups, such as writers of color, women, queer writers, disabled writers, working-class writers, etc. — those whose marginalized identities may present additional obstacles in the writing / publishing process.

The $500 Diverse Worlds grant is intended for work that best presents a diverse world, regardless of the writer’s background.

Writers can apply for both grants, if they want/fit the criteria.
~*~*~*~
The Inclusive Mainstream Publications tab has been updated with every resource we have available.  The literary/periodical section now has thirty-two entries.  The most recent ones are:  Teen Vogue, Magma Poetry Magazine, Crab Fat Magazine, Polychrome Ink,  Cosmonauts Avenue,  The Huffington Post, and BuzzFeed READER.

We'd love to add more places!  Please let us know if you can recommend any others.
~*~*~*~
Reminder:  We are open for submissions of guest posts and book reviews.  Pay is $3 via Paypal.

Books reviewed must have a disabled/neurodivergent main character and/or a disabled/neurodivergent author.

Guest posts must be about writing/books and disability/neurodivergence.  A post about writing through brain fog, for instance, counts.  A post about training guide dogs doesn't... unless you can tie it back to writing, somehow.

We are also looking for writers/editors to interview.

Do You Read/View #OwnVoices Books Differently?

Do you purposely search for Own Voices books?  Do you approach books with disabled/neurodivergent protagonists differently if you know they're written by a neurotypical/nondisabled author?

As a reader:  

I used to only care about the story.  Almost every author I was introduced to in school was able-bodied and neurotypical and, if a writer wasn't, it wasn't discussed.  I went through most of my childhood with a scant handful of famous disabled/neurodivergent in my head; I just thought there were too few of us doing great things.  I didn't think that a great person's disability wouldn't be talked about.

Reading books with disabled protagonists was (and often still is) unsatisfactory.  A disabled person is used as the obstacle in a nondisabled person's life.  A neurodivergent person is a villain.  We can't be regular people.  Well, we can, we just have to be miserable.  Or hateful.

A book by an Own Voices author is an invitation to explore a story without trepidation.    And, while a novel by someone who is disabled/neurodivergent writer isn't a guaranteed enjoyable experience, I don't have to worry as much about ableism or botched portrayals.

As a reviewer:

I review books by both disabled and nondisabled writers.  My review process is the same regardless of the writer, though I ponder motive a bit when a nondisabled/neurotypical author writes disabled/neurodivergent narratives:  Did the main characters come to the author on crutches, or is it a gimmick?  

It is important to me to review Own Voices books and I try to give them priority.  Publishing (and related industries) tend to "innocently" neglect books by minorities and I refuse to add to that problem.  But, I can't turn my back on nondisabled authors who write disabled characters; I'd lose out on some great reads if I did.  

As a writer:

Reading Own Voices books and connecting with disabled/neurodivergent writers is nourishing.  One of the best things for anyone's art is being around those who "get it" without a mile of footnotes.  Picking up a novel and knowing there's a landscape inside that doesn't erase you, or twist lives like yours into something lesser, is a thing of beauty and comfort.

I like knowing there are other disabled/neurodivergent writers succeeding.  And holding the proof of it in my hands.  

Links of Interest Page Has Been Updated

We have added three new publications to the Links of Interest page.  We are starting to run into roadblocks regarding sites that have been abandoned.

Next week, we'll hopefully have a larger update for the Inclusive Mainstream Publications page.  That is, if brain fog or chronic pain doesn't keep us from it.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Final note:  Found this listed on the Writers and Poets with Disabilities Facebook group and thought it might benefit some of you to have it listed here.

Stormé DeLarverie writing residency for under-represented writers (writers of color, both American and international, including Native peoples, as well as, disabled people, and those who identify as LGBTQ+).

An honorarium of $500 will accompany the residency.

https://balticwritingresidency.submittable.com/submit

The application fee is $15.

Sagamihara: Fear and Anger

The second the news hit, the media put the butcher in the same category as his victims.
He's sick.  He's mentally ill.  We should pity him, really.  He's just like them.

No.  He isn't.  Don't twist it so that he's "a victim himself".  To describe a horrible person's actions as mental illness harms the disabled/neurodivergent community.  We needed the focus on the true victims.  Things like ableism are due to ignorance, hatred... but not mental illness.  This attitude makes it easier for future violence against disabled/neurodivergent people because it paints us into "the volatile other".
~*~*~*~
Then, there are the people on the perpetrator's side, people who see disabled people as having a partial life (as though having no life is more merciful-- better than having limits).  People who see disabled people as leeches who give nothing to the world.
The people who think disabled/neurodivergent people don't deserve something as vital as breath scare me.  People who don't see the humanity in others should scare everyone.
~*~*~*~
All these months later, and I still haven't found one update on the survivors.  I haven't heard if any new security measures were added to care centers.  No one outside of the disabled community spoke up after the attack beyond the usual words of "terrible", "tragic", "poor people", or similar.

Maybe things changed that I didn't hear about because I'm in America.  Maybe people are more protected now.  I can hope that's the case-- hope and remember what happened.

"Real" Disabled Writers

I saw a conversation on social media about disabled artists needing more resources.  I nodded along as I read, having seen this play out a hundred times in various forms.
About halfway through the conversation, I paused.  Someone said something to the effect of, "Writers with Bipolar and Depression aren't real  disabled writers because the nondisabled populace is accepting and supportive of them and people expect writers to be depressed."

So, some people being (somewhat) more supportive in certain circumstances and in certain ways negates a disabled and/or neurodivergent writer's needs?  Negates their disability and/or neurodivergence entirely?  Makes their creative output not part of the disability community?  What utter bullshit!

The sentiment that Condition X, Diagnosis Y, or Disability Z is not as deserving because it's supposedly not as stigmatized smacks of Oppression Olympics.  People with mental illnesses and/or neurodivergences are often not believed, not taken seriously, and so on.  Wishing for a bigger spotlight on disabled/neurodivergent writers is a good thing, wanting to steal another person's candle because you consider them not as worthy is shitty.

Why the hell are we spending time bitching about the faint light our neighbors may be getting and not banding together to procure larger portions for us all?  Focus your energy and frustration on creating something better, not destroying someone else.  We are all in this together.  This is our community, enrich it!
~*~*~*~
One last note:  There is NO hierarchy of disability/neurodivergence.  People who acquire their disability/neurodivergence are not "better" than those who were born with theirs.  Physical disabilities aren't more chic than cognitive ones.  Quit that.

Writing Rules (are Often Alternate Facts)

I get tired of endless "writing rules" lists given out by every halfway decent writer and craft blog.  Most rules aren't rules, have never been rules, and will never be rules.  They are merely tips, helpful to some writers but potentially harmful to others.

Below are some of the more common "rules every writer should follow" and why they aren't always beneficial.

1.    Write every day.

Many disabled/neurodivergent writers can't write every day for various reasons.  Telling a disabled writer with migraines the week he can barely function should be spent writing is damaging.  It tells him (and the rest of us) we're not dedicated, that it's a moral failing and we'll never reach our goals because we are too lazy. It might cause us to hate ourselves or push ourselves until the point of injury.

2.  Nothing beats a pen and paper.  Get away from the screen.

And what about writers who can't write longhand?  Some of us can't hold a pen, much less compose a novel with one.  Every rule that states there is only one way to do something is almost always wrong and excludes a bunch of people.

3.  Keep a journal.

Journaling can be a healthy outlet and a primer for future words.  But it can also take the little bit of time someone with chronic illness has to devote to their current project away from them.  A person might only have two days a week (or less) where they feel good enough to write. The focus should be on where the writer needs it most.

4.  Never take more than X amount of time for Y project.

Why?  Why does a task have an expiration date (if not trying to meet an editor's deadline)?  Even the people who give this kind of rule can't agree with one another on time limits.  How long is writing the first draft of a novel supposed to take-- three month, a year?
A lot of writers use these as a yardstick to measure their success.  If it takes them longer... they feel like a failure.

5.  Seek advice on your work... and act on it. (Said at points with no caveats.)

Another set of eyes on a writer's work is helpful.  Telling people to trust that someone else automatically knows the work better than they do is not helpful.  Some people have confidence and/or social issues that make a blanket statement about near absolute trust almost dangerous.

I could go on with these.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Many writers admit there are few (to zero) rules of writing that can't be broken.

Write when you can, as true as you can.  Learn new things when you get the chance.  Read in whatever format works (braille, audio, large print, etc.).  The rest will come.