Somebody Else's Kids - Torey L. Hayden > Reviews (2)

I had gone to the library to print off something (my printer had to break at the most inconvenient time) which seemed to be a blessing is disguise after reading this book.

I am a huge Torey Hayden fan having most of her books, with my personal favorite being One Child. I am currently looking for a job working with children, having been to university etc and I do find her stories fascinating to read. At only 23 I haven't had a great deal of experience working with children with special needs, which may be why I find her stories so enjoyable and interesting to read.

This particular story does not live up to previous stories from her (hence the 4* star rating not 5*) in my opinion but it is still definately worth a read.

Torey Hayden is a highly qualifies special needs teacher who thouroughly enjoys working in schools with children who need a lot of extra support. In this story she is working in a school only as a resource teacher, where children go to her for a couple of hours a day to help with their reading and writing skills, although somehow she still ends up as having her own 'class'.

The main people in the story, including Torey herself, are 4 children Lori, Boo, Tomaso and Claudia.
All 4 of the children have their own unique story, I don't want to give too much away and ruin your read of the book so I'll just stick to a sentence or two about each of them.

Lori- A truly lovely child who has some difficulties in life. She is lovable, chatty and caring, but she can have her moments. What we see in the story from Lori's life is how different teachers can impact upon a child's life in different ways. She battled through parental beating which has meant she cant read or write.

Boo- He does not communicate with anyone and is in his own little world. I think Torey found him most challenging out of the group but with the love of her and his parents they keep on trying with him. He has an excellent memory and randomly repeats words and phrases he has heard, including weather and news reports. Although he fails to acknowledge anything in the real world.

Tomaso- What we could say is he is an explosive child. For me, I think it is him who comes the furthest out of all the group. Having witnessed a tragedy at a young age, his mother shooting his father. He has been in many foster homes and has a negative view of the world. Torey definately shares a huge fondness for this child.

Claudia- Claudia is the eldest out of the group at just 12, she becomes pregnant which is why she has to go into Toreys class, being unable to carry on in her catholic school. She is a quiet, reserved child who definitely has to grow up fast.

This mix of children all end up in Torey's class where they all learn to bond with each other in their own way. No-one else knows what do with them, so it is left to Torey to handle and teach them what she can.

One thing I liked about reading this book and others by Torey is that she is always realistic and honest. She doesn't claim to be the world's best teacher who can 'cure' these children, she only shows her true love for them.

She is definitely a 'trier' who doesn't give up. There are times in the book where she feels she cant carry on and she feels she isn't doing any good for the children, she writes honestly about these times explaining her true feelings. She writes things which at the time she was ashamed to be thinking them, which is refreshing to read honest thoughts.
The book also explores some personal issues for Torey such as her relationship with her boyfriend. It shows something which I think many people may relate to when you find it hard to leave things which happen at work at work, and not take it home to your home life. Something which Torey's boyfriend found it hard to deal with.

I enjoyed reading this book and definately recommend if you enjoy reading stories of this type. All of her stories are true and she write from the heart. It was definately a story which I couldn't put down and read it in a few days.

Book Info:
Author- Torey Hayden
First published in 1981.
This book version was printed in 2007 by HarperElement
374 pages
Amazon- Paperback- £5.59
ISBN- 978-0-00-721866-0