The team is unhappy that Melody is getting all the attention. The local media goes berserk and the local newspaper runs a story about the team winning, but the focus is on Melody and her handicap. The festivities end, and Melody feels like even though Claire was the one who made a scene, Melody was the one who was being looked at. (It’s not handicap accessible and she has a very hard time eating anyway.) Claire throws up at the table. The team celebrates by going to dinner and Melody has a hard time getting into the restaurant and eating. Melody helps lead her team to victory, and they earn a trip to the national quiz show in Washington DC. Though Melody is nervous, she is excited. V study industriously for weeks, preparing for the regional quiz show, which will be televised. V and Melody’s parents are proud of her for making the team. Dimmings, is reluctant to believe that Melody is capable enough to be on the team, but admits he is wrong when Melody is the only person to score perfectly on the tryout test. Rose is Melody’s cheerleader, while Claire constantly puts Melody down. Unfortunately, a bully named Claire is on the team as well. Melody’s one new friend, Rose, is also on the team. Within months of getting her new communication computer, Melody is winning competitions at school and becoming a team-member of the school’s prestigious quiz show team. She even helps Melody to acquire a fancy, new computer that helps Melody to really communicate with the people around her and show how intelligent she really is. She helps Melody take full advantage of the classes in which she participates. She treats Melody like a real person, not just a challenged kid. Once school starts, Melody gets a one-on-one aide, Catherine. Melody will finally have the opportunity to feel like a (somewhat) normal kid and make friends her own age. This means that she will be able to participate in regular classes with “normal” kids. In addition to a new baby sister, Melody also finds out that she will able to go to school as a fifth-grader in an inclusion-model school setting. Penny, the new baby, has no issues at all. When Melody’s mom becomes pregnant, Melody and her parents worry that the baby might also have cerebral palsy. It’s not fancy, but Melody can point to the word hungry or bathroom and people can know what she needs. She even sets up a communication board to let Melody tell people how she’s feeling and what she needs. V puts them in their place by teaching her to read. Melody’s own doctors have never thought she was capable of learning, but Ms. She pushes Melody to learn and even teaches her to read. V knows how smart Melody is, and she wants Melody to make everyone else understand that as fact. V has so much faith in Melody and has never allowed her to use her disability as an excuse. Melody’s neighbor, a sweet woman named Violet Valencia, takes care of her often, when Melody’s parents are working. Her parents give her all the love in the world, but they don’t always understand her, because she can only communicate through grunts and small movements with one arm. Up until this point, she has been an only child. Unfortunately, she’s never been able to say anything or communicate in any truly meaningful way she was born with cerebral palsy and can’t control her body, including her vocal chords. She can remember every song, every person, and every fact she ever comes across. Melody is incredibly smart and has an impressive memory.
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