ONE CHILD

One Child

One Child

Introduction

One Child has pulled it's readers in from the first page. It is a novel that shows the love that a young child receives after being abused and deprived of this emotion some of us take for granted. Torey L. Hayden is the author of this book as well as the teacher of this young girl named Shelia. Torey writes the novel from her perspective; she goes into great depth explaining Shelia and the mischief that she causes and has begun the story in a fabulous way. This storey is also true, every page of it which makes it very believable and having that much more of an impact.( Hayden 1980)

Discussion

Torey L. Hayden's One Child is a very sensitive report of the relationship that grew and developed between Ms. Hayden, a special education teacher, and one of her pupils, a six-year old girl named Sheila L. Sheila was a tragic example of a child who has been abused and neglected. The daughter of a 14-year-old mother, Sheila was born in poverty and raised in abuse, including being abandoned by her mother on a busy freeway when she was just six years old. ( Hayden 1980)

This abuse led Sheila to violent behavior, and she was arrested for the act of setting a playmate, a young boy, on fire. She was then sentenced to be committed to a state hospital for evaluation and therapy and was considered to be totally unmanageable. Ms. Hayden was asked to take Sheila into her Special Ed class until a space in the hospital opens up. When Sheila came to class the first time, she was dirty, unwashed, and totally withdrawn. She refused to speak or participate in any way. The book details the incredible way that Ms. Hayden was able to work with Sheila and teach her not only to socialize but to gain respect for herself. ( Hayden 1980)

The novel is written in the point of view of the author, which is the teacher of a class of mentally and physically abused children. The story written in this way is great because really shows how she feels during a particular situation. Also, Torey is able to read the expressions on the child-ren's faces very clearly and is dexterous at explaining what the children are saying in detail. She also has many theories about how to handle children, and shares them with the reader through this novel. Torey is excellent at telling the story of Shelia and her adventures in the "crazy kidz" ( Hayden 1980)class, and outside it as well.

"Shelia was wild, unreachable, abused and a genus," said Torey L. Hayden on the cover of her novel, One Child. This is extremely relevant for the first part of the book. Shelia has torn down the small portable that Torey's class is held in. She has poked out the eyes of pet goldfish with pencils and has stabbed Torey with a very sharp pencil, making her ...