Defining Disability

This novel has a disabled young girl as the main character. However, the reader will note that the author rarely uses the word disabled to describe her main character. Although Melody must deal with the difficulties of not being able to communicate in a normal way and having a body that often does not want to work as she would like, she does not consider herself abnormal.

Melody is a special young woman who is highly intelligent and has a mind bursting with information. The fact that Melody cannot share this information does not make her retarded, as one doctor diagnosed her. The truth is, Melody is just like any other eleven year old child except that she is unusually aware and intelligent.

As Melody begins to interact with the other students at her school, she comes to the conclusion that all people are disabled in their...