An eleven-year-old with cerebral palsy, a photographic memory, and an intellect that outpaces her peers. Melody cannot walk, talk, or write independently, but she narrates the novel in fluent, witty, perceptive prose — creating a permanent ironic gap between her internal world and the world's perception of her. She is angry, funny, stubborn, and profoundly isolated. She is not an inspiration. She is a person.