One Child

 

This true story chronicles the experiences of the author, Torey Hayden, a special education teacher at the time, and a very troubled, yet gifted 6-year old girl named Sheila who was placed in her small class of kids with varying degrees of disability.  Sheila was put there by the courts as a temporary placement while awaiting an opening in the children’s unit of the state mental hospital - a result of her unprovoked and serious attack on a 3-year old boy.  What follows is the journey of discovery over the 5 months Hayden worked with her, that this little girl wasn’t a monster in need of caging, but a child who’d experienced a highly traumatic background and was struggling to cope with it.  It was also discovered that she was extremely intelligent, which further convinced Hayden that the course being set for the child by the system wasn’t appropriate and should be fought. 

Hayden’s efforts to bring Sheila out of her personal darkness and form a trusting relationship with her and her peers is the basis of the book.  Watching Torey and Sheila navigate their way into each others' lives and hearts is truly special, and in turns both uplifting and heart-breaking.  I work with children Sheila’s age, so this one particularly hit me in the heart.  Reading about a child’s trauma is hard.  What I appreciated, though, is that it’s a very human book.  We see Sheila at her worst, but we also see those moments of breakthrough, where all you want is for her to succeed and have a happy life.  Hayden isn’t a saint, and she struggles with her own frustration of trying to reach the girl, but I can only admire her commitment and efforts to reach a child most people would have given up on.  It’s a tough, but rewarding and insightful read.  I will warn, though, not to expect a clear-cut resolution to the story.  Hayden wrote a sequel: The Tiger’s Child: What Ever Happened to Sheila? that answers some of those questions about a decade after the events of this book.  That review is here: 

 

★★★★ Stars

********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

SPOILER: THE FOLLOWING TRIGGER WARNING REVEALS A MAJOR EVENT IN THE BOOK

There is an instance related by the author of severe child sexual abuse and the after effects that may be very upsetting to some. If that is a problem for you, you should avoid the book