One girl cannot read due to severe beatings by her father which left her with brain damage, and at times during the book, I wanted a miracle to appear on the pages, I wanted to read that her disability had been overcome, (it never did) yet that was the beauty of the book in a way, it was honest and real, and if there had been a magical answer to everything I as the reader would not have experienced such raw emotions. I found the part where Boo is in hospital particularly harrowing.(I have purposely left out the details so as not to spoil it for someone who had not read the book)

At the end of the book I pondered the outcome for a while. It made me appreciate that we are not one life, but several, because whatever happens to each one of us; Loris inability to read, or Boo's autism as examples, affects so many people in the life around us.

It is a heartwarming book and well worth reading.

I loved it when Torey Hayden made it plain that sacrificing people (in this case pupils) in order to maintain a system is wrong. The author is a person of incredible courage and it is to the credit of the school administrators to acknowledge the work she did with her four resource room students.

One theme that is recurrent in this book is the need to adapt to the needs of each child. Since only a fraction of one side of the story has been presented, it is only fair to realize that most of what took place is not information that will be made available to readers. This is to protect the privacy of the real people who have consented to have their stories shared.

Since this class came together in or about the 1970s, it is only fair and reasonable to recognize that the people involved were using the tools and resources they had available to them at the time. It is impossible to apply current knowledge to a bygone era. Without knowing any of the people personally, it seems cruel and unfair to pronounce harsh judgment against anyone who did not have the professional background necessary to help students with special academic needs. It seems just as cruel, judgmental and unfair to put ANY child up on a pedastal. Vilifying Edna and glorifying Lori is tiresome and counterproductive. The only real villian is the lack of information. Lori and Edna are only people who were coping with some overwhelming issues from the telling. This book is not an allegory about good and evil and Lori and Edna are not representatives of either concept.

The other children who make up the resource room with Lori are Claudia, who is 12 and pregnant; Tomaso, an 11-year-old boy whose early life was a litany of domestic violence, abandonment and the traumatic murder of a parent and Boo, a 5-year-old boy whose behavior is described as autistic. What makes this book so effective are the accounts of how the children interacted with one another and drew stength from one another. I like the way they worked together as a group.

God bless Torey Hayden and the four pupils she had that year. This book is a good eye opener in fairness and forgiveness.

I loved it when Torey Hayden made it plain that sacrificing people (in this case pupils) in order to maintain a system is wrong. The author is a person of incredible courage and it is to the credit of the school administrators to acknowledge the work she did with her four resource room students.

One theme that is recurrent in this book is the need to adapt to the needs of each child. Since only a fraction of one side of the story has been presented, it is only fair to realize that most of what took place is not information that will be made available to readers. This is to protect the privacy of the real people who have consented to have their stories shared.

Since this class came together in or about the 1970s, it is only fair and reasonable to recognize that the people involved were using the tools and resources they had available to them at the time. It is impossible to apply current knowledge to a bygone era. Without knowing any of the people personally, it seems cruel and unfair to pronounce harsh judgment against anyone who did not have the professional background necessary to help students with special academic needs. It seems just as cruel and unfair to put ANY child up on a pedastal. Vilifying Edna and glorifying Lori is tiresome and counterproductive. The only real villian here is the lack of information. Lori and Edna are only people who were coping with some overwhelming issues from the telling. This book is not an allegory about good and evil and Lori and Edna are not representatives of either concept.

The other children who make up the resource room with Lori are Claudia, who is 12 and pregnant; Tomaso, an 11-year-old boy whose early life was a litany of domestic violence, abandonment and the traumatic murder of a parent and Boo, a 5-year-old boy whose behavior is described as autistic. What makes this book so effective are the accounts of how the children interacted with one another and drew stength from one another. I like the way they worked together as a group.

God bless Torey Hayden and the four pupils she had that year. This book is a good eye opener in fairness and forgiveness.