Sharon M. Draper
1 book analyzed
Biography
Sharon M. Draper (born 1948) is a former English teacher from Cincinnati, Ohio, who spent twenty-five years in the classroom before becoming a full-time writer. She was the 1997 National Teacher of the Year. Her career in education gave her a direct, sustained view of how school systems succeed and fail children with disabilities. Out of My Mind was inspired by students she taught and observed — children whose bodies did not match their minds, and whose intelligence was chronically underestimated. Draper has spoken extensively about meeting students with cerebral palsy who communicated through devices and whose families described experiences nearly identical to Melody's. The novel is not autobiographical but is deeply informed by professional proximity to the reality it depicts.