"Out of My Mind" Chapters Summary 22-33

 

Summary: Chapter 22 

The quiz team spends the next two weeks studying and practicing after school. Melody is thrilled to be a part of the team, but she doesn’t feel a sense of belonging. During the practice sessions, students ask and answer questions so quickly that Melody doesn’t have the time to type in her answers. Finally, a question comes up that baffles the class, so Melody has enough time to type in her answer. She answers correctly, which has Claire questioning how Melody can know so much. Rose comes to Melody’s defense and simply says that Melody is smart. Claire again makes a remark about how odd Melody will look on television. Melody already had a response typed up and her Medi-Talker tells Claire that lots of people look funny on television and that Claire might be one of them. Melody is elated by her own response. One day, Rose’s mother orders pizza for the team during practice. When Elena asks Melody if she’d like some, Melody responds that she isn’t hungry. She doesn’t want to share with her teammates that she is unable to eat it by herself and needs someone to feed her.

Summary: Chapter 23

The day of the regional Whiz Kids competition is here. Mrs. V has a talk with Melody as they’re waiting for the school bus. She tells Melody of the day’s timeline and that the studio has prepared for her. She also tells Melody that some reporters may be there to ask Melody questions. Melody doesn’t comprehend why they would want to talk to her, and Mrs. V tells Melody that she is the Stephen Hawking of Spaulding Street Elementary. Melody’s mother picks Melody up after school, gets her something to eat, and brings her to the downtown TV studio. They meet a stage manager, Paul, who immediately puts Melody at ease. He shows her a special answer board that he has created for her. It will allow Melody to use her whole wrist to hit the answer button, not just her thumb as she does on her Medi-Talker. Mr. Dimming and the rest of the team start to arrive as well as the competing elementary school teams. Melody’s family and Mrs. V are in the audience. Catherine stands behind the camera just in case she is needed. Melody is ready and confident.

Summary: Chapter 24

The moderator, Mr. Kingsley, welcomes the audience to the Whiz Kids Southwest Ohio Regional Competition. He explains the rules and says that the two highest scoring teams from the early rounds will compete against each other in a final round for the title of local champion and will then move on to the national competition in Washington, D.C. The national champion will make an appearance on Good Morning America. 

Melody’s team from Spaulding Street Elementary is up first against Woodland Elementary. After much back and forth between the two teams, Spaulding Street comes out victorious. Their team is taken to a waiting room to watch the rest of the preliminary rounds play out. Melody’s family, Mrs. V, and Catherine are all there. The competition continues and after the fourth round, Perry Valley school wins, ending with one point more than Spaulding Street. Mr. Kingsley announces Spaulding Street and Perry Valley as the two top-scoring schools that will compete against each other in the final round. He states that in addition to competing in Washington, D.C., the winners and their chaperones will have all their expenses paid for the trip, plus be given a tour of the city. The overall winning team will receive a giant gold trophy and their school will receive two thousand dollars.

Summary: Chapter 25

The championship round begins between Spaulding Street and Perry Valley. Perry Valley stays one or two points ahead throughout the round until the final two questions. In the end, Spaulding Street Elementary beats Perry Valley by one point. Melody squeals and her arms and legs flail as Claire demands someone shut her up. Mr. Kingsley reminds people to watch the upcoming finals and ends the telecast. Mr. Dimming, the alternates, and the family members of the contestants rush onto the stage and everyone is buzzing with excitement. Cameras start flashing in Melody’s face. One reporter asks the Spaulding Street team for an interview. The reporter announces the group as the competition winners and asks each team member to introduce themselves. Claire, Rose, and Connor speak up. Connor is about to introduce Melody but before he can, the Medi-Talker loudly announces Melody’s name and age. The reporter starts asking more questions of Melody when Claire suddenly interrupts her to mention what good friends she and Melody are. Rose raises her hand but is told they are out of time. In closing, the reporter congratulates the team and makes special mention of the relationship between Melody and Claire, saying they became best friends in spite of their differences. Melody is astonished.

Summary: Chapter 26 

Mr. Dimming suggests the team go out to a restaurant for a celebratory meal. As the group agrees, Melody looks at her mother, unsure for a moment, but then agrees. At the restaurant, everyone orders, and they have a fun conversation while waiting for their meals. When the waitress brings out the food, everyone starts eating except Melody. No one on the team has ever seen her eat before and her disability requires someone to feed her. She and her mother exchange looks and Melody gives her a nod that she wants to eat. As Melody’s mother begins feeding her one spoonful at a time, Molly pokes Claire and they glance at each other. Everyone stops talking at the table. Melody pushes her food away, deciding to take the rest home, even though she is still hungry. She notices that Claire has barely eaten and has hardly said anything all night. Some of the group orders dessert and conversation picks back up with everyone talking about the upcoming Washington trip. Claire mentions that she doesn’t feel good and stands up, stumbles a bit, covers her mouth, and then throws up on Mr. Dimming’s shoes. Claire goes to the bathroom with her mother and Mr. Dimming rushes off to clean his shoes. Melody wonders if Claire was as uncomfortable and embarrassed as Melody felt while being fed. Melody finds it curious that no one looks bothered by Claire getting sick in the middle of the restaurant. Claire returns looking pale and everyone pays their tab and leaves.

Summary: Chapter 27

The next day, the front page of the morning paper features an article about the winning team along with a picture of Melody. Melody is concerned that her teammates are going to be upset that they are not pictured and that much of the article is about Melody, the girl with cerebral palsy, leading her team to victory. She finds out she is right when she gets to school. Rose acts cold toward Melody and expresses that the whole team should have been included in the picture. Melody agrees, then sighs and goes to Mr. Dimming’s class. He’s bursting with excitement and congratulates everyone on doing a great job, giving a special thanks to Melody for helping to secure a win for the team. He passes out a packet filled with all the information the team members will need for their trip to Washington, D.C. In preparation, they will need to practice every day after school. He says the six students with the highest scores in the preliminary rounds will be the final team for D.C. Before heading to practice after school, Catherine asks Melody what is bothering her. Melody types that the other kids do not want her on the team because she will make them stick out and make them look odd.

Summary: Chapter 28

Two weeks of practice passes quickly. Mr. Dimming announces the final team as Connor, Rose, Molly, Elena, Rodney, and Melody. Claire and Amanda are alternates and Claire is not happy. Mrs. V comes over in the evening to help Melody and her mother pack for their trip. Melody gets teary-eyed thinking about the trip. She can’t believe that it is actually going to happen. She thinks about Rose and the things they may do in D.C. She just wants to be like all the other girls. The Brooks family and Mrs. V head to the airport in the morning to get Melody and her mother on their flight. At check-in, an airline employee informs them that their flight has been canceled due to bad weather. There are no other flights to get them to the destination in time for the competition. When Melody’s mother asks about the rest of the quiz team, they find out that the group had gone out to breakfast and arrived at the airport very early. They caught the last flight out before cancellations began. Melody, her family, and Mrs. V are confused and upset that no one called them and that they left Melody behind. Knowing there is nothing else they can do, they go home.

Summary: Chapter 29

At home, Melody cries while her mind is buzzing with questions about why the team left her behind. She feels like they left her on purpose, which angers her and makes her want to stomp, but she can’t. Penny comes into her room and snuggles with her, which makes her feel a little bit better. Her parents try to get Melody to eat but she is not hungry. The phone rings and Melody realizes her mother is talking to Mr. Dimming. In a very stern tone, her mother tells him she doesn’t understand why they weren’t called.  She listens and then replies that they could have been at the airport earlier. She adds that this has been devastating to Melody. He then seems to imply that he will make it up to Melody, which further agitates her mother causing her to hang up the phone. Melody’s mother pulls Melody onto her lap, consoling Melody and rocking her until she eventually falls asleep.

Summary: Chapter 30 

The next morning, Melody’s father shares that the team came in ninth place in the finals and received a little trophy. Melody tries to pretend that she doesn’t care but tears roll down her face. Her sadness turns to anger and although she has already been excused from school for the day, she decides she wants to go in holding her head up high to show the other students that this has not defeated her. She also wants to see Catherine. 

It’s a very stormy, lightning-filled day, so Melody has to go back to using her manual wheelchair and her old Plexiglas communication board. The morning is very hectic for the whole family, but Melody’s mother agrees to take Melody to school in her SUV. After getting soaked by the rain, she gets Melody in the car. Just as she’s about to back out of the driveway, Melody sees Penny running out the front door. Melody’s mother does not notice her. Since Melody doesn’t have her Medi-Talker, she starts kicking, screaming, crying, and flailing about to try to warn her mother, but her mother thinks Melody is just acting out. The car starts backing down the driveway and they feel a soft thump. Melody’s father comes running out the door calling for Penny. Melody’s parents are horrified when they realize Penny has been injured by the car. Melody sits in the car frozen with fear.

Summary: Chapter 31

Melody’s parents ride in the ambulance with Penny to the hospital. Mrs. V takes care of Melody and tries to calm her fears. Melody feels responsible for the accident because she insisted on going to school. Mrs. V tells her it’s not her fault and that Melody tried her best to warn her mother. Melody wishes it had been her in the accident because she thinks no one would miss her. Mrs. V replies saying she would miss her terribly if something happened to her. Melody brings up how the quiz team left her, and how she just wants to be like every other kid. Mrs. V doesn’t want her to be like every other kid and says she loves Melody for who she is. Mrs. V receives a phone call saying that Penny has some internal injuries and a badly broken leg but has successfully undergone surgery and will be fine. She and Melody are extremely relieved.

Summary: Chapter 32 

Before school, Melody tells Mrs. V that facing the quiz team will be easy compared to what happened to Penny. In classroom H-5, Melody sees her friends differently now and realizes that none of them have ever been mean to her. Catherine comes in and Melody tells her she wants to go to her inclusion classes. As Melody and Catherine enter Mr. Dimming’s classroom, they see a tiny trophy on his desk. The room is extra quiet as Mr. Dimming greets Melody in a fake, cheerful voice. Melody doesn’t respond and then looks at Rose, who tries to avoid her eyes. Melody breaks the silence by having her Medi-Talker ask why the team left her. One after another, her teammates come up with excuses. Even Mr. Dimming joins in, trying to clear his conscience. Then, there’s more silence until Rose bursts into tears. Connor walks up to Melody and places the cheap little plastic trophy on her tray, declaring that the team wants her to have it to make up for what they did. Melody giggles, then laughs harder. At the same time, her hand suddenly jerks and knocks the trophy to the ground, causing it to break into pieces. The class stares, expecting her to unleash her anger upon them but she doesn’t. They start to laugh a little. Melody’s Medi-Talker loudly states that she doesn’t want the trophy and they deserve it. She continues laughing, turns her wheelchair around, and heads out the classroom door.

Summary: Chapter 33

Melody has a realization that while she is certainly different in some ways from her “regular” fifth grade classmates, she may have more in common with them than she originally thought. They all have worries about fitting in, being liked, and trying to find out where they belong. She compares her life to a puzzle, saying that she’s trying to figure out where all the pieces go and whether she even has all the pieces. Penny is home from the hospital, getting spoiled, and that’s completely okay with Melody. Mrs. V has plugged Melody’s Medi-Talker into the computer and Melody decides to start working on her autobiography for Miss Gordon’s class. She begins her autobiography titled Out of My Mind with "I'm surrounded by thousands of words,” the very same words that start the book.