Soundtrack for Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper

Draper, Sharon M. Out of my mind. (2010). Atheneum Books for Young Readers: New York

Summary: Eleven-year-old Melody has a photographic memory. Her head is like a video camera that is always recording. Always. And there's no delete button. She's the smartest kid in her whole school - but NO ONE knows it. Most people - her teachers and doctors included - don't think she's capable of learning, and up until recently her school days consisted of listening to the same preschool-level alphabet lessons again and again and again. If only she could speak up, if only she could tell people what she thinks and knows...but she can't, because Melody can't talk. She can't walk. She can't write. Being stuck inside her head is making Melody go out of her mind- that is, until she discovers something that will allow her to speak for the first time ever. At last Melody has a voice...but not everyone around her is ready to hear it. From multiple Coretta Scott King Award winner Sharon M. Draper comes a story full of heartache and hope. Get ready to meet a girl whose voice you'll never, ever forget.

I knew she was going to be a great teacher: Mrs. Lovelace paused at the end of the song. "Music is powerful, my young friends," she said. "It can connect us to memories. It can influence our mood and our responses to problems we might face." (p. 96)

Synesthesia: "I can almost hear colors and smell images when music is played." (p. 5)
"The condition in which a person may be able to hear colors or visualize flavors when music is played...Not only was it one of Mrs. V's vocabulary words, it was me!" (p. 220)

The videos shown below are songs that I believe would be on the soundtrack for Out of My Mind . The descriptions and captions are quoted directly from the narrator, Melody.

I Wanna Talk About Me by Toby Keith
I Have the Words: "Every word my parents spoke to me or about me I absorbed and kept and remembered. All of them. I have no idea how I untangled the complicated process of words and thought, but it happened quickly and naturally. By the time I was two, all my memories had words, and all my words had meanings. But only in my head. I have never spoken one single word. I am almost eleven years old." (p. 2)
Music I Prefer: "For some reason, I've always loved country music - loud, guitar-strumming, broken-heart music. Country is lemons - not sour, but sugar sweet and tangy. Lemon cake icing, cool, fresh lemondade! Lemon, lemon, lemon! Love it. (p. 6)
"...I had been listening to music on the radio - Mom had finally figured out I liked the country-western station - and I was in a good mood. The music was sounding orangey and yellowish as I listened, and the faint whiff of lemons seemed to surround me. I felt real mellow as I watched Ollie do his thing round and round his bowl. (p. 62)

Hush Little Baby
Lullabies: Songs floated through me and stayed. Lullabies, mixed with the soft smells of bedtime, slept with me." (p. 5)

Blue in Green (Kind of Blue) by Miles Davis
What Dad Likes: "Dad is partial to jazz, and every chance he gets, he winks at me, takes out Mom's Mozart disc, then pops in a CD of Miles Davis or Woody Herman. Jazz to me sounds brown and tan, and it smells like wet dirt." (p. 6)

Elvira by The Oak Ridge Boys
My Favorite Since I was Little: "When I was really little, I remember sitting in our kitchen, being fed breakfast by Mom, and a song came on the radio that made me screech with joy...How did I already know the words and rhythms to that song? I have no idea. It must have seeped into my memory somehow - maybe from a radio or a TV program. Anyway, I almost fell out of my chair. I scrunched up my face and jerked and twitched as I tried to point to the radio. I wanted to hear the song again. But Mom just looked at me like I was nuts." (p. 6)
"How could she understand that I loved the song 'Elvira' by the Oak Ridge Boys when I barely understood it myself? I had no way to explain how I could smell freshly sliced lemons and see citrus-toned musical notes in my mind as it played." (p. 6)
My Little Secret: "I am so happy- I almost feel like hugging the machine, but that would look silly. Instead, I name it. That's probably pretty dumb, but sometimes it's good to have something that nobody else knows but you. I'm not going to type the name into the machine, because it's personal, but in my mind I'm going to call the Medi-Talked 'Elvira,' after that song I like. Yep, my heart's on fire for Elvira!" (p. 136)

Yesterday by The Beatles
Oh, Parents: "What Dad did most was to sing to me. He has a clear voice that seems made for songs like 'Yesterday' and 'I Want to Hold Your Hand.' Dad loves the Beatles. No, there's no figuring out parents and why they like stuff." (p. 12)

Take Me Out to the Ballgame
In Honor of Willy: "Willy loves baseball." (p. 35)
"Then Mrs. Lovelace completely changed tempo and played the opening notes to 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game.' Willy clapped his hands wildly." (p. 95)

Singing in the Rain sung by Gene Kelly
A Great Memory: "She [Mrs. V] rolled me down the ramp Dad had built, both of us getting wetter every second. She stopped when we got to the grass, and we let the rain drench us. My hair, my clothes, my eyes and arms and hands. Wet. Wet. Wet. It was awesome. The rain was warm, almost like bathwater. I laughed and laughed." (p. 49)

Eye of the Tiger by Survivor
Working up a Brain Sweat: "On your study plan. You and I are going to pracice, prepare, and push. I am going to quiz you, and you are going to answer. We're going to learn geography, science, math-thousands of glorious tidbits of information!" (p. 160)
"We have one week. I'm the coach, and you're my athlete. Get ready to sweat!" (p. 161)
"Practice every day for close to two weeks. Study every evening with Mrs. V. Words. Cities. States. Countries. Capitals. Oceans. Rivers. Colors. Diseases. Weather. Numbers. Dates. Animals. Kings. Queens. Birds. Insects. Wars. Presidents. Planets. Authors. Generals. Laws. Quotations. Measurements. Equations. Defintions. My head has been spinning nonstop with facts and figures. But I'm ready now. Our team is ready." (p. 248)

Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin
I Knew the Answer: "'Number two,' Mr. Kingsley said. 'Who is the composer of 'Rhapsody in Blue'? A) Mozart B)Gershwin C)Copeland D) Beethoven.' Bing! Bing! Bing! Bing! Thanks to my parents and Mrs. V, that was a little easier." (p. 219)

Celebration by Kool and the Gang
We Won: "Mr. Dimming, the alternates, and all the parents of the rest of the kids on the team cheered and jumped and patted one another on the back. One of the parents streamed confetti over us. Balloons appeared from nowhere. Somebody in the studio turned the speakers up loud and played the song 'Celebration.' People started to dance." (p. 223)

In summary: "It's like I've always had a painted musical sound track playing background to my life. (p. 5)