Murphy's Boy

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: "If that wasn't the portrait of a loser, I didn't know what would be" (17). This statement comes at the end of a twenty-nine line paragraph describing Kevin Richter's case history. After just hearing Hayden outline the difficulties this boy has been through, I was a little angry at this sentence. After reading all of Dave Pelzer's books as well as many of Beatrice Spark's, her choice of words seems inappropriate. Although the entire book does not contain this negativity, I couldn't forget it as I turned each page. Borrow this one from the library.

Rating:
Summary: Torey Hayden, My Inspiration
Review: As I read through these reviews, I see that I am not the only one who has been changed by Toreys Books. I have read all of Haydens books, and being only 17, I can now say I want to become a child psychologist. By reading her stories I have become inspiried to do the same, help hurting children and never give up on the children everyone else gives up on. Thank you Torey for seriously changing my outlook on life, and helping guide me into the future.

Rating:
Summary: :)
Review: As with all of the other Torey Hayden books, I throughly enjoyed this one. I had to read this one, along with ONE CHILD and SOMEBODY ELSE'S KIDS, for a Psychology book report. I still read Hayden's books even though I don't have reports to do on them. ;) This book was, in my opinion, ALMOST as good as ONE CHILD

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful -- Challenging
Review: I laughed and cried with this book. I have read all of the Haydens books available! Thank you so much Torey for sticking with "Murphy's Boy" and showing him that someone does and did care. (As a result of reading Torey's books I am now working with mentally handicapped adults). Thanks torey!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent view on hope...
Review: I read this book in high school & recently re-read it. Torey is to be commended for her undying idealism & hope with severely disturbed kids. Also excellent was the vivid description of elective mutism...a little known psychological re-action to trauma & fear where a person, usually a child goes MUTE & doesn't speak at all. (If you read Ann Martin's Baby-Sitters' Club #131, Mary Anne Spier goes through something similar when her house burns to the ground-she goes nearly mute in fear). Torey gets Kevin to speak with patience & understanding. I love how she probes into the human mind & not only with Kevin, but with other people in her life, she has a fascination for why people behave the way they do. When Kevin finally gets the courage to speak, he reveals horrifying abuse in his background & one awful incident where he watched his sister get beaten to death! The way the sister's death was described was really shocking & chilling & even more scary was that Torey discovers that this abusive stepfather was allowed to return home after only four years in prison! Boy, Kevin's mother was APPALLING in that she chose to keep her awful husband at home & put Kevin in an institition! Poor Kevin! I could see why he had a lot of hate & anger toward both of them. It was good that Torey got angry at that piece of information. I'm a writer & some people consider me a bit peculiar myself & once someone asked me if I identified with the kids Torey worked with & I said no, I identify with Torey because Torey is idealistic, liberal & open-minded like me. I'm also interested in what makes people act they way they do. Even though parts of the book are haunting & sad, it also had its funny parts, especially with another kid, Charity that Torey works with as a Big Sister volunteer. Charity is funny, mischievous, frank, & says what's on her mind. I laughed out loud in the scene where Charity offers Torey a smashed piece of cake & Torey takes it & humoring her, eats it & pretends that it tastes great & thanks Charity & Charity then adds, "I tried to give it to our dog, but he spit it out." All in all, the book is inspiring & it's great that Torey never gives up on Kevin, even when he goes through difficult periods. I like how the descriptions of the atmosphere & people & their feelings are vivid & real.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent reading!
Review: I really enjoy Torey L. Hayden books. This book was especially well done. I like the fact that Torey shows her anger, frustrations and not just the highlights of her accomplishments. What Kevin had to endure and the people who gave up on him is intolerable! I liked how she incorporated Charity into this book. We have all known a Charity sometime in our lives! What haunts me about this book that there was no epilogue--so I always wonder if Kevin was able to move on in his life. I wish there was a way to know what happened to Kevin and Charity.

Rating:
Summary: This book was mesmerizing.
Review: I remember purchasing this book a while back and putting it on my shelf to read "on a rainy day". I picked it up again three days ago and haven't let go since. It was as captivating as it was disturbing, but I absolutely couldn't put it down. Ms. Hayden has only reinforced my willingness to write and research independently before going on to college. This is the first book I've read by her, and I cannot wait to find some others.

Rating:
Summary: An enjoyable and surprising story of hope.
Review: I was inspired reading Murphy's Boy and often that is a hard task for a writer to accomplish. The love that radiates from Hayden is amazing and unending as she leads Kevin to manhood by overcoming his fears. This is a must read for any Torey L. Hayden fan.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I was utterly disappointed in this book. Ms. Hayden's approach, if in fact she has one, was hopelessly devoid of any theoretical backing. She simply misses the boat on many crucial issues. Furthermore, her character development is completely lacking, and we spend 1/2 of the time hearing about her relationship with her "little sister" rather than exploring Kevin's history. At the end of the book, I was almost as unknowledgeable about why Kevin hadn't talked for so many years as I was when I started the book. While I am not completely discrediting the work that Ms. Hayden does, I found her book very frustrating. There are much better books that explain child abuse and what the victim is experiencing than this one.

Rating:
Summary: Not worth the time
Review: I was utterly disappointed in this book. Ms. Hayden's approach, if in fact she has one, was hopelessly devoid of any theoretical backing. She simply misses the boat on many crucial issues. Furthermore, her character development is completely lacking, and we spend 1/2 of the time hearing about her relationship with her "little sister" rather than exploring Kevin's history. At the end of the book, I was almost as unknowledgeable about why Kevin hadn't talked for so many years as I was when I started the book. While I am not completely discrediting the work that Ms. Hayden does, I found her book very frustrating. There are much better books that explain child abuse and what the victim is experiencing than this one.