There is no other way to describe Torey Hayden’s Beautiful Child than an emotional rollercoaster; it will make you laugh, make you cry, and it even made me throw the book across the room at certain parts of the narrative. If you haven’t read it, I certainly do recommend it.
This story's narrator is none other than the author herself, Torey Hayden. It is the story of one of her many special education classrooms and a wild bunch of children who she gets to teach and learn so much from. This wild band of characters include; Billy, an aggressive nine-year-old who had an issue with vulgar language and had already been expelled from school, twice; Jesse, an eight-year-old with Tourette’s Syndrome; Shane and Zane, twin six-year-olds who were diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome; and Venus, a seven-year-old little girl who was selectively mute, and didn’t really acknowledge the presence of anyone else, however when she gets bumped or feel threatened she would explode with a dangerous rage.
Venus would be Torrey’s biggest battle of her special education career to this point; but she wouldn’t give up, even if Venus’ attendance was poor. On top of all the work she would put into trying to get Venus to interact with her, the boys just didn’t get along; and her aid was no help, she became a problem for Torey in her own way.
With everything that happened, this book has taught so much about education and why I decided on this field in the first place. Torey is a model teacher, not because she’s the best teacher, but because she’s a real teacher; she doesn’t get self-indulgent or worry about how her work is reflecting her, she just wants to help these children. I personally could be a writer, an actor, an editor, anything with literature or theatre, but I want to teach. I want to make every student feel welcome, and special, and give them room to grow the way they need to grow; and if I have to be persistent and push a student to their best, I will.
Torey teaches us that we should be there for our students and not give up; if that means going to their house, when you know you’re not welcome, then you do it, and I will. I was heart broken when I read what had been going on in Venus’ life, and as I said above, I literally threw the book because I was so upset! But it shows that you don’t know what is going on in your students’ life, and you must keep that in mind when working with them.
I am ready to put this into practice when I get my own classroom; especially because I will, hopefully, be working with middle school students, and we all know how much can go on during the life of a thirteen-year-old. Finally, reading Beautiful Child showed me that if you are in a bad situation, or the people you work with aren’t working out, don’t be afraid to speak up. I, personally, will find this difficult because I have a horrid time asking for help; I am a tad bit stubborn, which isn’t always a bad thing.
In conclusion, if you are a teaching candidate, or not, you must read this book. One day you may be a parent of a child in school and this book will give you some perspective. Also, this book can teach you everyday lessons for everyday people; like determination; the fact that you don’t know everyone’s backstory; and that there are times in our lives where we need to ask for help. If you haven’t read this book yet, I’m telling you Torey Hayden’s Beautiful Child is definitely worth the read.
