This book is the journey of a teacher and a student. The student being a rebellious six year old who never spoke or cried. Everything with her was like a challenge. On her first day in class it was evident that she would be difficult to handle. But just how difficult, that was something they had never dreamt
The book begins with the author, Torey Hayden , recalling an article she had read in the local newspaper. It was about a six year old girl who had abducted a three year old, tied him to a tree and had set him to fire.
She taught the emotional disturbed and learning impaired children. She had her own private classroom and had eight such children to begin with. She had aids with her Whiteny ,a fourteen year old girl, and Anton a married refugee. The youngest child in her class was six and the oldest was nine. She was confident ... enough.
And then came, Sheila. She was the girl that the article had been about. The authorities had thought it was best to put her in Torey's class. She was six and a half years old , she was a tiny little girl with matted hair and hostile eyes. On her first day in class she refused all the friendly gestures made to her. She refused to take part in the classroom activities , didn't read, write or talk. She was a silent statue. Everything with her seemed to be a battle and the first sentence that she spoke in the class was 'You can't make me talk' . Torey read her file and found it to be surprisingly thin. It told her about the conditions Sheila lived in. She lived with her father in a makeshift home where there was no electricity or plumbing. Reading the file one thing that became evident to Torey was that Sheila had tried to make herself unlovable but she was convinced that the girl was still reachable.
This book teaches us the importance of perseverance and dedication and shows us how love and hope can help us in achieving even the most impossible of tasks.
Sheila the girl, who burns a child, mutilates gold-fishes, is scared of her father and scared to be abandoned, the girl who gets raped by her uncle and is scared to cry, in the end discovers a new way to life. She learns how to love and to say good-bye.She learns how to cry.
This is a story about growth of not just a girl named Sheila , but about all such children who have lost hope. This is for all those parents out there who are ready to give up.
Nothing is the end , unless you want it to be the end.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important.
You become responsible , forever, for what you have tamed. You are responsible for your rose..."
Sheila wrote a poem for Torey Hayden
" To Torey with much
'Love'
All the rest came
They tried to make me laugh
They played their games with me
Some games for fun and some for keeps
And then they went away
Leaving me in the ruins of games
Not knowinig which were for keeps and
Which were for fun and
Leaving me alone with the echos of
Laughter which was not mine.
Then you came
In your funny way of being
Not quite human
And you made me cry
And you didn't seem to care if I did
You just said the games are over
And waited
Until all my tears turned into
Joy. "
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