Having read everything that Torey Hayden has published, I’m still not tired of reading about heroic special education teachers. I searched around and found this book by MacCracken. It’s written in a similar format to Hayden’s books, chronicling one school year in MacCracken’s life. There are several big differences though. First, MacCracken has fictionalized her account, rather than just changing names and places like Hayden does. (In spite of this, the book is still categorized as non-fiction by the library.) Second, MacCracken writes with much more of a political agenda. Where Hayden will comment on laws and policies that make her teaching difficult, MacCracken tends to complain and rant, which is annoying and distracting from the story. A third difference is that MacCracken does describe her teaching methods in more detail, which for me as a teacher, is interesting and helpful.

This was the first book I ever read by Hayden. I read it first years ago, loved it, but forgot about it. Then, when I was at my mom’s house last summer, she had another Hayden book, One Child, which I read. That reminded me of this book, so I read it over again.

As do most of her books, this one chronicles one school year with Hayden and her classroom. This time, she’s teaching as a resource room teacher, but also is given the responsibility of teaching 4 children who don’t fit in anywhere else. My favorite storyline involves Lori, a first grade student who just can’t learn how to read, no matter what anybody tries. Eventually, Hayden comes to realize that for Lori, there are more important things than reading. Because this story takes place early in Hayden’s career, she has a hard time summoning the courage to stand up to school officials and fighting for Lori.

I was incorrect when I wrote that The Very Worst Thing was Hayden’s first novel. That was her first novel for kids. The Sunflower Forest was actually Hayden’s first novel. It’s set about 25 years after WWII. 17 year old Lesley has always been a caretaker for her mother. Her mom suffered at the hands of the Nazis in Germany, and was never able to fully recover. When her mother sinks further into mental illness, Lesley’s dad seems unable to acknowledge the seriousness of the condition and ask for help. Eventually, tragedy strikes, and the family must cope with the results.

I hope that Hayden sticks to stories about her students. This book was OK, but I probably wouldn’t have finished it, if I hadn’t enjoyed Hayden’s other books so much.

Hayden is working at a children’s psychiatric ward when she meets Cassandra, who is recovering from an abusive kidnapping situation, and Drake, who is a charming 4 year old who won’t say a word. Hayden works to make a break through with Cassandra, and tries to unravel the mystery of why Drake won’t speak. Although Hayden usually works only with children, she begins meeting with Gerda, a lonely, depressed, 82 year old stroke victim who is refusing to communicate.

Sometimes reading Hayden’s books just make me tired! Where does she get the mental energy to help these people who are so desperate, and then to write a book about it all?

McWhorter has compiled a collection of essays that he has written about being black in America and what that means. McWhorter is an associate professor of linguistics at UC Berkley, and is fairly conservative in his political views. He is also black, which gives him a good perspective from which to comment on race issues.

I don’t want to attempt to summarize the book, as I just don’t feel I can do it accurately. All I can say is that if you’ve ever felt like race relations (especially between blacks and whites) in this country aren’t what they should be, but aren’t sure why or what you can do about it, you should read this book. McWhorter is the author of another book which I greatly enjoyed –Losing the Race–which is also about race issues. If you are going to choose one McWhorter book to read, I would recommend Losing the Race over Authentially Black.

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