Out of My Dreams

I was excited to see there was a book 3 in the Out of My Mind series and so got this one from the library right when it came out: Out of My Dreams by Sharon M. Draper. The book description says, "When Melody saves an elderly back-in-the-day actress’s life, the woman is so grateful—and impressed by Melody—that she nominates Melody to be a US spokesperson at an international symposium for kids with different abilities. To Melody’s utter shock and delight, she and two friends of her choice are chosen to participate—and this year’s symposium is in England! Melody finally gets to fly on an airplane, and even the airline’s somewhat clumsy handling of her wheelchair can’t dampen her excitement to be in London. There, Melody meets kids from all over the world who are rallying for greater accessibility and more thoughtful planning on how to make the world more equal for every kid, no matter the unusual challenges they face. As Melody’s time to speak approaches, she hopes she can find a way to make every word count and make an impact."

I liked getting back in the world with Melody, but this wasn't as engaging as I hoped it would be. I loved Out of My Mind so much and just loved that story, but I feel like the sequels haven't measured up. I almost had to force myself to keep reading this one because I just wasn't that invested in the story, and there were lots of things that just struck me as unrealistic throughout the book (like unrealistic enough that I was distracted from the story to comment on it to myself). I guess I liked that nothing that bad happened to Melody in the book because that would just be really unbearable for me, but I think the book's format of just describing a play-by-play of her trip with no major conflicts just didn't keep me super interested. But I still highly recommend book 1!

* (1/3 = It was okay)