Somebody Else's Kids

Rating:
Summary: a truly heartwarming book
Review: i have just finished reading somebody else's kids by torey hayden.although it is hard,reading about the cruelty suffered by lori and tomaso in the past,torey seems to take us past that and we start to see hope and a future for these lovely children.lori is the sweetest kindest little girl and i am mystified how her 'teacher'edna thorsen,could treat her in such a cruel way,she seems to have singled lori out to bully,she should have been made to take immediate retirement at the very least.also that dreadful doctor who treated poor boo when he cut his tongue should have been struck off.i found myself caring deeply for these four lovely children,i do hope the future has been good to them,they deserve it .a truly wonderful book written by a gifted teacher and author.

Rating:
Summary: Hayden does it again!
Review: I love Ms. Hayden's works!! She does a service to developmentally disadvantaged youth. Another book is one written by Ken Grant about good and bad times growing up as an abandoned and abused youngster in state child care for nearly 18 years. Grant is from Massachusetts and went through quite a hard time because of his manuscript.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Book
Review: I loved this book by Torey Hayden. It really touched me. I am going to be a high school special education teacher myself. It really gave me some insight into what the special education world is going to be like. Hayden did not hold anything back in her book. She gave readers a real life experience in this field so few dare to go into. If you are thinking about going into this field of special education I highly reccomend this book. It is a book that I will most definately read again.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful and Insightful!
Review: I Loved this book. I thought it was a great insight as to dealing with children with disabilities and would highly recommend it to anyone who has ever thought of teaching disabled children! I think that Tori really has great knowledge and a natural ability dealing with these kids!

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Summary: The life of a teacher
Review: I really enjoyed the book. However, I did not like Edna, nor was I to pleased with Dan. Edna felt that Special Education children were not like normal children, and that she knew everything that there was to know about all children. There are some teachers that feel the way that Edna does,an I think that is wrong. And, Dan seemed to be afraid of Edna. He needed a mind of his own. I felt that he was afraid because Edna had tenture and all teachers with tenture do not know everything and most of them are set in their ways and are not going to change, whether they are wrong or right. The book was very interesting to me, and I could relate to it because of my experience of being a paraprofessional. I would like to add that I feel that special children behave better than normal children and should not be considered special

Rating:
Summary: Lovely Book
Review: I really think this was a great book. Torey Hayden is a wonderful author. She wrote about a resource teacher for a small group of four students. These were students that no other teacher wanted. She help them in their ways of need. She dedicated her personal time to help these students All of the hard work paid off. She was an excellent teacher! Great book for those future educators!

Rating:
Summary: I fell in love with these characters!
Review: I received, "Somebody Else's Children" just this week & Torey Hayden had me hooked by the end of the first chapter. She's the kind of teacher we all hope our kids have -- caring, committed, creative. As she describes her students the richness of details allow them to reach right out & grab you by the heartstrings. While not all of her students are classic "special ed" students, any one who has spent time with special needs students will immediately relate to these characters! I think the greatest gift Torey offers in this book though, is her total honesty. She allows her readers to peek into her soul & experience with her SUCCESS measured in the smallest of increments & deep frustration as she struggles with her own inability to "have all the answers". The end result is a book that you simply can't put down & characters that you can't help but fall in love with!

Rating:
Summary: I thought the book was entertaining and easy to read.
Review: I thought this book was entertaining and easy to read. The book reminded me of a journal written on one year spent working as a resource teacher. It brings you into what the teacher was feeling both inside and outside of the classroom. The book does not offer any suggestions or insights to the children's behavior in the story. It simply tells the teacher's actions and reactions to situations involving the children in the classroom. My only qualm with the story was the teacher's lack of self-confidence, which affected both herself and the children in the story.

Rating:
Summary: A great book to read again and again!
Review: I was given this book when I was in the 10th grade by a friend. I have just completed my fourth year teaching. After I read this book I decided to teach everyone else's kids! I have not stopped. I find strength in returning to Torey's book when I need to be reminded that as a teacher I do make a difference. I await more books from Torey. I seem to read them while they are still hot off the press. Thank-you Torey for giving me your love of teaching. Tara

Rating:
Summary: Wow, Torey really is a special person...she's so dear...
Review: Interesting and soo touching! Four "problem" kids are put into Torey's class because no one knows how to handle them. I love how Torey takes each of them to heart, even when they're being difficult. I kind of laughed, yet sympathized with Torey when Tomaso first arrives, full of anger and swear words and he challenges Torey with "what are you some kind of *&%# crazy teacher" when Torey stays calm and doesn't let Tomaso make her mad. I could tell Tomaso was used to having adults yell at him or hit him. I could also tell this book took place around the 1970's before many people were aware of learning disabilities, because no one knows why Lori is having so much trouble with reading and spelling, yet she is very bright. I do hope Lori has now learned to read; so many kids back then never learned because of inadequate resources to help them. I get the feeling Lori had dyslexia, a common byproduct of brain damage. Boy, was I disgusted with Edna Thorsen's attitude toward both Lori and Torey; she really had no right to barge into Torey's classroom and demand that Torey account for how she was teaching Lori. I could tell poor Torey was really upset by a lot of Edna's behavior and Edna's attitudes smacked of the Nazi belief in "survival of the fittest" as an excuse for exterminated their handicapped. I liked that Torey was caring enough to go over to Lori's house when Lori refused to come to school for a week and talk her into coming back. My heart went out to Torey because she blamed herself for that incident and feels so guilty at one point that she swallows when she's talking to Lori. Torey was swell in that she struggled to find professional help for Claudia, who was suffering from depression and pregnant at twelve. I like how Torey is honest in her own feelings and lets herself feel vulnerable. She's not afraid to cry in front of her students sometimes and the most touching scene is when she's playing a guitar and singing along with her students near the end of the year and she unexpectedly starts crying mid-song. It was kind of funny and touching when Lori asks her, "How come you're crying, Tor?" At first, Torey tries to fight the tears, but she can't and admits that she's feeling a bit emotional, esp. since she worries about their futures. All in all, a touching, wonderful read to anyone who's ever dealt with kids or handicapped people. Way to go, Torey!!!