Most Popular Books by Torey Hayden

"A heartwarming book full of tenderness." --Library Journal From the bestselling author of One Child, the true story of four problem children and one extraordinary teacher. They were all "just somebody else''s kids"—four problem children placed in Torey Hayden''s class because nobody knew what else to do with them. They were a motley group of children in great pain: a small boy who echoed other people''s words and repeated weather forecasts; a beautiful seven-year-old girl whose brain was damaged by savage parental beatings; an angry and violent ten-year-old who had watched his stepmother murder his father; a shy twelve-year-old who had been cast out of Catholic school when she became pregnant. But they shared one thing in common: a remarkable teacher who would never stop caring—and who would share with them the love and understanding they had never known and help them become a family.

The first new book from beloved therapist and writer Torey Hayden in almost fifteen years—an inspiring, uplifting tale of a troubled child and the remarkable woman who made a difference. In a forgotten corner of Wales, a young girl languishes in a home for troubled children. Abandoned by her parents because of her violent streak, Jessie—at the age of ten—is at risk of becoming just another lost soul in the foster system. Precocious and bold, Jessie is convinced she is possessed by the devil and utterly unprepared for the arrival of therapist Torey Hayden. Armed with patience, compassion, and unconditional love, Hayden begins working with Jessie once a week. But when Jessie makes a stunning accusation against one of Hayden’s colleagues – a man Hayden implicitly trusts – Hayden’s work doubles: now she must not only get to the root of Jessie’s troubles, but also find out if what the girl alleges is true. A moving, compelling, and inspiring account, Lost Child is a powerful testament once again of Torey Hayden’s extraordinary ability to reach children who many have given up on—and a reminder of how patience and love can ultimately prevail.

From Torey Hayden, the number one Sunday Times bestselling author of One Child comes The Invisible Girl, a deeply moving true account of a young teen with a troubling obsession and an extraordinary educational psychologist''s sympathy and determination to help. Eloise is a vibrant and charming young teen with a deeply caring nature, but she also struggles with a worrying delusion. She’s been moved from home to home, and her social workers have difficulty dealing with her habit of running away. After experiencing violence, neglect and sexual abuse from people she should have been able to trust, Eloise has developed complex behavioural needs. She struggles to separate fact from fiction, leading to confusion for the social workers trying to help her. After Torey learns of Eloise''s background she hopes that some gentle care and attention can help Eloise gain some sense of security in her life. Can Torey and the other social workers provide the loving attention that has so far been missing in Eloise''s life, or will she run away from them too?

A light in the darkness for severely troubled children, former special education teacher Torey Hayden faced three of her most extraordinary challenges after she left the classroom Nine-year-old Cassandra, kidnapped by her father and found starving, dirty, and picking through garbage cans -- a child prone to long silences and erratic, violent behavior, whose hard-won recollections of the nightmare she endured could not be fully trusted. Charming, charismatic four-year-old Drake, who would speak only in private to his mother -- his tough, unbending grandfather''s demands for an immediate cure threatened to cause the delightful boy and his family irreparable harm. And though she had never worked with adults, Hayden agreed to help fearful and silent eighty-two-year-old massive stroke victim Gerda -- discovering in the process that a treatment''s successes could prove nearly as heartbreaking as its limitations.

Finally, a beginning . . . The time had finally come. The time I had been waiting for through all these long months that I knew sooner or later had to occur. Now it was here. She had surprised me so much by actually crying that for a moment I did nothing but look at her. Then I gathered her into my arms, hugging her tightly. She clutched onto my shirt so that I could feel the dull pain of her fingers digging into my skin. She cried and cried and cried. I held her and rocked the chair back and on its rear legs, feeling my arms and chest get damp from the tears and her hot breath and the smallness of the room.

"Just Another Kid is not just another book. This remarkable teacher''s memoir reminds us that love takes many forms." -The New York Times From the bestselling author of One Child comes the true story of six children impossible to reach and the amazing teacher who embraced them all. Torey Hayden faced six emotionally troubled kids no other teacher could handle—three recent arrivals from battle-torn Northern Ireland, badly traumatized by the horrors of war; eleven-year-old Dirkie, who only knew of life inside an institution; excitable Mariana, aggressive and sexually precocious at the age of eight; and seven-year-old Leslie, perhaps the most hopeless of all, unresponsive and unable to speak. With compassion, rare insight, and masterful storytelling, teacher Torey Hayden once again touches our hearts with her account of the miracles that can happen in her class of “special” children.

From the bestselling author of One Child comes this amazing, true story of a mute and withdrawn seven—year—old girl and the special education teacher determined never to abandon a child in need. Seven-year-old Venus Fox never spoke, never listened, never even acknowledged the presence of another human being in the room with her. Yet an accidental playground “bump” would release a rage frightening to behold. The school year that followed would be one of the most trying, perplexing, and ultimately rewarding of Torey Hayden’s career, as she struggled to reach a silent child in obvious pain. It would be a strenuous journey beset by seemingly insurmountable obstacles and darkened by truly terrible revelations—yet encouraged by sometimes small, sometimes dazzling breakthroughs—as a dedicated teacher remained committed to helping a “hopeless” girl, and patiently and lovingly leading her toward the light of a new day.

Jadie never spoke. She never laughed, or cried, or uttered any sound. Despite efforts to reach her, Jadie remained locked in her own troubled world . . . until one remarkable teacher persuaded her to break her self-imposed silence. Nothing in all of Torey Hayden’s experience could have prepared her for the shock of what Jadie told her—a story too horrendous for Torey’s professional colleagues to acknowledge. Yet a little girl was living in a nightmare, and Torey responded in the only way she knew how—with courage, compassion, and dedication—demonstrating once again the tremendous power of love and the resilience of the human spirit.

When Torey Hayden first met fifteen-year-old Kevin, he was barricaded under a table. Desperately afraid of the world around him, he hadn’t spoken a word in eight years. He was considered hopeless, incurable, but Hayden refused to believe it. With unwavering devotion and gentle, patient love, she set out to free him—and slowly uncovered a shocking, violent history and a terrible secret that an unfeeling bureaucracy had simply filed away and forgotten. But she never gave up on this tragic “lost case.” For a trapped and frightened boy desperately needed her help—and she knew in her heart she could not rest easy until she had rescued him from the darkness.

David has never had a permanent home or a real friend, but when he decides to try to hatch an owl egg with the help of a classmate, his life slowly begins to change for the better.

A stunning and poignant account of an extraordinary teacher''s determination from the author of the #1 Sunday Times bestsellers The Tiger''s Child and One Child.

Create lasting, positive change for our most troubled students! How do you move beyond traditional classroom management to create a learning environment that engages our hardest-to-reach students—students who may be struggling due to emotional disturbances, disabilities, or environmental circumstances? Marlowe and Hayden have the answer: through a relationship-driven classroom. With the help of their book, you will: Gain a meaningful understanding of troubled students and how to reach and teach them Learn how to change inappropriate behavior rather than just control it Develop the essential skills for building successful classroom relationships Become more reflective about teaching and learning with challenging children