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Musings, I guess that's the right word. Babblings, mostly. Because otherwise when I write the actual review, it'll be roughly ten pages. lol
I'm roughly halfway through this book right now. It's the true-story sequel to another of Torey Hayden's books, and my very favorite of hers, One Child. That book told the story of Sheila, a 6-year-old who was placed in Torey's class for "emotionally disturbed" children after she had severely burned a three year old boy. She was placed in Torey's class because, quite simply, everyone else was too scared to take her on. Everyone else thought the child was beyond help. And sometimes it seems, reading the book, that maybe Torey thought that too, when things got especially hard. Sheila was not an easy child, that's for sure. But in the five months that she was in Torey's classroom, her life was changed. Dramatically. The book ended with hope and a ray of light at the end of the tunnel, and it's impossible not to love this child.
It's also impossible not to wonder what happened to her after she left Torey's classroom. Which is the question that The Tiger's Child answers. And honestly, I cried when I found out the answer. Okay, so I cry a lot, whether it's a true-story novel or not. But I think there was such hope at the end of that first book, and I think there was this assumption that Sheila's life would get better and better as time went on, because of her time in Torey's classroom and how much Torey helped her. I mean, to go from nearly electively mute and lashing out in shockingly violent acts anytime she was upset, to this gifted bright child who warms your heart... It's a fairytale, almost. And I guess I hoped it would stay that way.
And so I was understandably upset when I learned that Torey had been unable to stay in touch with Sheila after that life-changing year, that they had lost track of each other for years. That Sheila's father had ended up back in jail. That Sheila had been placed in multiple foster homes. And maybe, most confusing and disappointing of all, that when Torey finally reconnected with a then-thirteen-year-old Sheila, the girl had almost no memory of that "life-changing" time they spent together.
I mirrored Torey's pain in that regard. As I read, we *both* realized that her memories of that time were just that: HER memories. And just as everyone has different viewpoints on how any one situation happened, Sheila had different memories of her time with Torey. She was only six years old, and although it was a very intense five months, many of the things Torey remembered so fondly were things Sheila didn't remember at all. It confused and hurt Torey, and me too. How could someone not remember something so intensely monumental? And then I had to put the book down for a few minutes, and I thought rationally, and I realized that I don't remember much about being six years old, either. Small snippits, little flashes of memory, but nothing big or complete. When I picked up the book and read on, that's exactly what Torey realized, as well. And she was having a hard time relating to this 13-year-old Sheila, because she was so completely different from the little girl Torey remembered.
And so I'm reading this book. And I'm stopping every few pages to let everything sink in, to rein in my emotions, etc, just like I have to do with every single Torey Hayden book I read. This are not easy books to read. Not length-wise or language-wise, but emotionally. It's almost like, in reading One Child (and re-reading it), Sheila had become as real to me as any child I've known in real life. So I'm having just as hard of a time getting used to this teenage-Sheila as if I knew her in real life. And it's... it's weird. The whole thing is weird, because I'm so used to Torey-as-a-teacher, with her special-ed kids and the classroom that becomes almost like it's own little family, and this book is different. Even though there are other kids, the focus is shifted and it's kind of hard to sink into.
..... Holy carp, I've written this much about this book and I'm only halfway through it? Wow.
I'm roughly halfway through this book right now. It's the true-story sequel to another of Torey Hayden's books, and my very favorite of hers, One Child. That book told the story of Sheila, a 6-year-old who was placed in Torey's class for "emotionally disturbed" children after she had severely burned a three year old boy. She was placed in Torey's class because, quite simply, everyone else was too scared to take her on. Everyone else thought the child was beyond help. And sometimes it seems, reading the book, that maybe Torey thought that too, when things got especially hard. Sheila was not an easy child, that's for sure. But in the five months that she was in Torey's classroom, her life was changed. Dramatically. The book ended with hope and a ray of light at the end of the tunnel, and it's impossible not to love this child. It's also impossible not to wonder what happened to her after she left Torey's classroom. Which is the question that The Tiger's Child answers. And honestly, I cried when I found out the answer. Okay, so I cry a lot, whether it's a true-story novel or not. But I think there was such hope at the end of that first book, and I think there was this assumption that Sheila's life would get better and better as time went on, because of her time in Torey's classroom and how much Torey helped her. I mean, to go from nearly electively mute and lashing out in shockingly violent acts anytime she was upset, to this gifted bright child who warms your heart... It's a fairytale, almost. And I guess I hoped it would stay that way.
And so I was understandably upset when I learned that Torey had been unable to stay in touch with Sheila after that life-changing year, that they had lost track of each other for years. That Sheila's father had ended up back in jail. That Sheila had been placed in multiple foster homes. And maybe, most confusing and disappointing of all, that when Torey finally reconnected with a then-thirteen-year-old Sheila, the girl had almost no memory of that "life-changing" time they spent together.
I mirrored Torey's pain in that regard. As I read, we *both* realized that her memories of that time were just that: HER memories. And just as everyone has different viewpoints on how any one situation happened, Sheila had different memories of her time with Torey. She was only six years old, and although it was a very intense five months, many of the things Torey remembered so fondly were things Sheila didn't remember at all. It confused and hurt Torey, and me too. How could someone not remember something so intensely monumental? And then I had to put the book down for a few minutes, and I thought rationally, and I realized that I don't remember much about being six years old, either. Small snippits, little flashes of memory, but nothing big or complete. When I picked up the book and read on, that's exactly what Torey realized, as well. And she was having a hard time relating to this 13-year-old Sheila, because she was so completely different from the little girl Torey remembered.
And so I'm reading this book. And I'm stopping every few pages to let everything sink in, to rein in my emotions, etc, just like I have to do with every single Torey Hayden book I read. This are not easy books to read. Not length-wise or language-wise, but emotionally. It's almost like, in reading One Child (and re-reading it), Sheila had become as real to me as any child I've known in real life. So I'm having just as hard of a time getting used to this teenage-Sheila as if I knew her in real life. And it's... it's weird. The whole thing is weird, because I'm so used to Torey-as-a-teacher, with her special-ed kids and the classroom that becomes almost like it's own little family, and this book is different. Even though there are other kids, the focus is shifted and it's kind of hard to sink into.
..... Holy carp, I've written this much about this book and I'm only halfway through it? Wow.
