51 pages • 1 hour read
Sharon M. DraperOut of My Dreams
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2024A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 1-10Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 1 Summary
Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses ableism.
Melody sees herself walking confidently up to a podium. In the crowd, she sees her family, her neighbors, and even her camp crush, Noah. She addresses the crowd and offers to tell them about the trip that changed her life. As she begins to dance, the dream begins to crumble, and she wakes up, recalling that she cannot walk, talk, or dance.
Chapter 2 Summary
Melody takes in the gray weather outside and reminisces on her time at summer camp, where she learned to paint and express herself. She notices the music of the raindrops falling and senses colors and feelings in the sounds around her. She then directly addresses the readers, telling them not to feel sorry for her; although she can’t talk, she still has a lot to say and will express herself.
Chapter 3 Summary
Melody explains that she has a device called a Medi-Talker that she has named “Elvira.” Melody presses buttons on Elvira using her thumb, and the device speaks full sentences, allowing her to have ordinary conversations with her family and friends. Melody’s only issue with Elvira is the sound of the voice; she thinks it should sound like Beyoncé. Melody thinks again of her experiences at Camp Green Glades, a camp for children with disabilities, where she had adventures and made friends for the first time in her life. She looks lovingly at the friendship bracelet that she and her friends wore at camp. Life at camp made her feel normal for the first time, and now that she is back at home, she feels different again. The other students at school do not really see her or know how smart she is or what she loves.
As it storms outside, a blue jay lands on her windowsill. Her neighbor, Mrs. V, cares for the blue jays, believing the birds to be tough and scrappy just like Melody. Blue is Melody’s favorite color, and she understands why Mrs. V loves to see the blue jays on the windowsill. Melody thinks of Mrs. V as family. Mrs. V always pushes Melody to challenge herself and was instrumental in obtaining Elvira for her. Mrs. V encourages Melody to use Elvira to do research and learn.
Melody hears her mom walking around and realizes that her sister Penny is awake. Though Penny is only five years old, she loves makeup and nail polish. Melody envies Penny’s ability to apply the nail polish so easily.
Chapter 4 Summary
Melody spots Miss Gertie, her elderly neighbor from across the street. She thinks that Miss Gertie must be lonely since hardly anyone visits her. When Penny bursts into Melody’s room to show off her new nail polish, Melody poetically describes Penny’s energy and laughter, and Melody’s mom marvels at her gift with words. Melody watches TV in German because she enjoys learning other languages. She watches Miss Gertie go outside and waves to her. As Miss Gertie walks back to the house, she falls and doesn’t get up. Melody wants to help but cannot get her family’s attention.
Chapter 5 Summary
Melody continues screaming, but nobody can hear her. Then she remembers Elvira and taps the emergency 911 button. She is unable to explain to the operator what has happened, so the operator hangs up. She calls again, but the operator thinks that she is prank-calling. Finally, a new operator named Jeffrey picks up, and Melody uses Elvira to ask for help. The operator realizes that Melody is using an assistive device and sends help. Melody feels frustrated that it takes her so long to type when her thoughts move so quickly. She connects with Jeffrey, and the sirens finally arrive.
Chapter 6 Summary
Melody’s family bursts into her room just as the ambulance arrives across the street. Jeffrey commends Melody for getting help and calls her a hero. Melody’s mom, who is a nurse by profession, runs across the street to help. Melody feels proud as she watches her mom her work. Melody finally sees that Miss Gertie is awake and talking, and soon, Mom returns and informs the family that Miss Gertie hit her head but thankfully was not seriously injured. Mom offers to bake something to take everyone’s mind off of their worries. Melody can’t stop thinking about what could have happened if she hadn’t successfully called 911.
Chapter 7 Summary
The kitchen smells of chocolate. Mom makes Melody the vanilla lady fingers that she likes so much. Melody thinks about redesigning her special cup that is meant to keep her from choking. Suddenly, a reporter from Channel Nine calls to commend Melody for saving Miss Gertie’s life. The family learns that Miss Gertie is actually a reclusive actress who used to be a British film star in the 1960s. Channel 12 news calls and asks to interview Melody.
Chapter 8 Summary
Mom rushes around to get the family television-ready, making Penny choose a nice dress to wear. Penny asks if the television people will know how to talk to Melody. Mom insists that the family will make sure Melody’s voice is heard. Melody chooses a brand-new dress that Mrs. V gave to her. Mrs. V comes to visit and calls Melody a hero, and Melody asks if they can visit Miss Gertie in the hospital, so Mrs. V offers to take them.
Melody is familiar with hospitals and feels thankful that all members of the staff try to make bad situations better. They visit Miss Gertie, who is cheerful and friendly. Penny recalls that Miss Gertie once rejected a piece of pie that Mom tried to bring her, and Miss Gertie explains that sometimes sorrow takes over. She speaks of her career in London and the husband she loved. As Miss Gertie and Mrs. V reminisce on the past, Melody thinks about how hard life would have been for a child like her back then. Miss Gertie plans to join the family on TV if the doctors approve.
Chapter 9 Summary
Melody grows obsessed with the UK and watches movies and documentaries about the country’s history and culture. She looks up old pictures of Miss Gertie’s acting career. Then Mom comes home early and informs Melody that she is now trending on social media. Melody sees pictures of her online and feels “oddly upset” (52); she feels tokenized and self-conscious. Her mom comes in and comforts her, encouraging her to take this moment of fame and use it to do something good.
Chapter 10 Summary
Melody feels nervous as the whole family gets dressed up and leaves early for the interview at the studio. As they arrive, Melody is star-struck when she sees Leonardo Fontana, a top newscaster. The news team sets up the Brooks family with microphones, including one that is hooked up to Elvira. Miss Gertie arrives, looking glamorous with a hat covering her bandage. As Ron Dodson, another top newscaster, interviews them, Melody is overwhelmed by the lights and images of herself, but her dad encourages her to stay strong. Miss Gertie describes how she lost the will to perform after her beloved husband, Jasper, died. She explains that Melody saved her life in more ways than one. Melody feels uncomfortable when they ask her what it feels like to be a hero. She cracks a joke and finally feels the tension in the room release. Miss Gertie reveals that she wishes to visit her family in London for the first time in many years. Mr. Dodson and Mr. Fontana return after the commercial break and announce that there is a symposium called I.D.E.A. for extraordinary youth in London in two weeks; they would like to send Melody as a delegate. They would also like to send Miss Gertie to London to see her family.
Chapters 1-10 Analysis
The opening chapters of Out of My Dreams reintroduce readers to Melody and create a vivid portrayal of her physical disability and daily challenges. Because the novel is written in the first person, Draper provides intimate access to Melody’s thoughts and celebrates her humorous, observant, and often poetic voice. Because Melody cannot speak without the assistance of Elvira, there is a profound gap between how she is perceived and who she truly is, and these early chapters make it clear that she wishes the world would share her family’s in-depth understanding of her inner world. As Melody deals with the challenges of communicating her ideas, the novel uses both her frustrations and her successes to explore the difficulty in Understanding the Interiority of Others, and this idea is extended to other characters as well, especially when Melody begins to learn about Miss Gertie’s past experiences and private life.
From the very beginning, the novel also introduces the difficulties of Overcoming Imposter Syndrome, for when the narrative opens with Melody’s dream of walking up to a podium to deliver a speech, then shifts to Melody’s chagrin upon awakening, it is clear that she imagines an able-bodied person who delivers the speech and then differentiates herself from that person, showing that she cannot easily envision her own capabilities. This dynamic reappears when Melody again doubts herself when trying to call 911; as the first emergency dispatcher hangs up on her, Melody thinks to herself that she sounds like someone “who ought to be ignored” (22). Even as she perseveres in responding to an emergency situation, Melody still internally believes that it is normal and appropriate for her to be discounted. Melody will experience this feeling of insecurity again when she wonders what she could possibly say on live television. When she is surrounded by able-bodied people in the studio and stands out as the only person present using an assistive device, Melody doubts her own ability to contribute meaningfully to the conversation and worries that she will be embarrassed by how she looks or moves.
As Melody navigates the crisis that jump-starts the plot, the inciting incident of Miss Gertie’s accident allows Draper to establish the broader philosophical goal of Celebrating Everyday Heroism. When Melody calls for help after Miss Gertie’s fall, she comes face-to-face with the need for disability advocacy as she struggles to communicate in a high-stakes situation. Draper shows two versions of Melody’s conversation with the emergency dispatcher; first with a dispatcher who is not familiar with assistive communication devices, then with a dispatcher who is. During the first conversation, the dispatcher makes false assumptions about Melody. This dispatcher represents a lack of awareness and views nonstandard voices and communication methods as suspect. By contrast, the second conversation with the new dispatcher, Jeffrey, shows Melody making herself understood. Because this dispatcher can recognize her use of an assistive board, he takes the time to accommodate her communication needs and provides the life-saving care that Miss Gertie needs. With this scenario, Draper emphasizes the importance of having functional assistive devices even as she critiques the variably receptive social structures that make their use feasible in real-world settings.
When people begin to call Melody a hero, she thinks explicitly about the nature of heroism. The ideas that she associates with the concept has always been exemplified by images of “soldiers with guns” and “superhero folk” (40), and she cannot see the relationship between herself and these figures. As Melody struggles with the idea of Celebrating Everyday Heroism, Draper uses the character’s thoughts to emphasize that a lack of representation can lead to internalized shame and insecurity. When Melody begins to receive attention on the internet for her heroism, she struggles with the definition of the term, especially when people applaud her for doing something that they expected her disability would prevent her from accomplishing. Thus, Draper shows how heroism can be seen through the lens of difficulty (how difficult it is for the hero to complete the action) and through the lens of effect (how helpful the action is for the person in danger).
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