독특한 소설. 멜로디는 대단히 뛰어난 두뇌를 가진 학생이지만 모든 것은 뜻대로 되지 못하는 육체에 갇혀 있습니다. 머리로 끊임없이 생각하지만 자신의 생각을 표현할 수 없습니다. 그런 그녀에게 컴퓨터의 도움으로 생각을 말할 수 있는 기회가 찾아옵니다. 얼마나 짜릿한 순간이었을까요?＞ 멜로디는 이제 원하는 바를 컴퓨터를 통해 이야기할 수 있습니다. 멜로디의 뛰어난 두뇌로 위즈키즈 단어 시험에 통과하게 되고 많은 친구들의 선망과 응원을 받습니다. 멜로디의 삶이 평온하기를 바랍니다. 재밌게 잘 봤습니다. 

코로나 기간동안 심심할때 읽으라고 딸아이에게 사준 원서책. 생각보다 재미있고 감동도 있다고 했다. 표지가 너무 인상적이고 예쁜데 파란 바탕의 어항에서 물고기가 튀어 나가는 모습이다. 장애가 있는 11살 Melody에 관련한 에피소드들을 다루고 있는데 잔잔한 이야기가 감동을 준다. 책이 궁금하신분들을 위해 딸아이가 읽고 적은 리뷰를 덧붙여본다.

「Out of My Mind」

It could limit her body, but not her mind.

Melody Brooks is a 11year old girl with physical disorder called cerebral palsy. She cannot walk, talk, or eat by herself. However, she is a tough kid. She can bear with other people staring at her, or having to go everywhere with aid or her parents because it has been her life. What really frustrates her is that she cannot talk; she is super smart and has so much thing to say, but all she had have to communicate with the world is board with few words on it.

I thought about how I would feel if I couldn’t talk. Before, I had never been grateful that I could communicate freely with people. I considered it as one of the things all the humans have. From Melody, I realized how talking was important, not only because as a tool to communicate with other people, but also because it was something that shaped your identity.

Melody starts something called inclusion classes in the novel. This means a lot to her, as she’s never been hanging around with ’normal’ kids. Well, she gets one friend called Rose, whom she like very much. Otherwise, Melody’s life is as it has ever has been.

Then it changes. Like, Melody changes.

When Rose gets a brand new good laptop, Melody is very jealous of her and asks her aid, Catherine to help her find some computer that would be perfect for her. And then she finds it, the medi talker! It has a speaker that would speak what she wants to say, and also many other technics. The part was really moving since Melody had never been able to say what she wanted to; she then says thank you to mrs.v, who helped her much, and I love you to her parents.

When it’s time for Melody to go to school carrying her medi talker, she is so, so proud and excited of this machine. The computer will help to identify who Melody is, what she thinks, and how longing for years, she had yearned to say. It really is a big moment for Melody.

Almost every normal kids in Melody’s inclusion class is awed by this product. Somehow, it is the moment when everyone realizes Melody’s being and appreciate like she’s same with them.

But the thing Melody really wants to say is: Friends? To Rose. Without hesitation, Rose says Friends! To Melody. She is simply so happy.

The Medi Talker changes her life completely different, but in some way her life is the same old one. People can now know what she says; thinks. But this doesn’t mean they are keen to welcome Melody into their world, where they think she does not belong.

In the end, Melody is betrayed by her friends and teacher, who leave without Melody, isolating her. They might think it is a simple thing for her since she is kind of different. But the thing is that it isn’t. Melody might be sad and happy like all the other people in the world; Her problem doesn’t mean they could actually leave her at their will.

I have once heard a quote that goes something like this-

 It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.

The quote means that all the important things- friendship, love, forgiveness and all the other important things in life- can’t be seen with our eyes, yet we try to see all the things with our eyes, but has to be seen with the whole heart.

I thought of Melody in this quote. Her appearance can be strange and not very normal. But it is important what’s inside her mind, what she thinks.

I wish all the people in the world can see people with their heart but not with their eyes. I know that it is an impossible thing to wish such, but still, the day might come eventually, and gradually.