Most Popular Books by Torey Hayden

"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.

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.

"Were all just somebody else''s kids . . . " A small seven-year-old boy who couldn''t speak except to repeat weather forecasts and other people''s words . . . A beautiful little girl of seven who had been brain damaged by terrible parental beatings and was so ashamed because she couldn''t learn to read . . . A violently angry ten-year-old who had seen his stepmother murder his father and had been sent from one foster home to another . . . A shy twelve-year-old from a Catholic school which put her out when she became pregnant . . . "What do we matter?" "Why do you care?" They were four problem children-put in Torey Hayden''s class because no one else knew what to do with them. Together, with the help of a remarkable teacher who cared too much to ever give up, they became almost a family, able to give each other the love and understanding they had found nowhere else.

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.

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.

"A story rich in reasons for hope." --Publishers Weekly From the bestselling author of One Child, the true story of a boy who refused to speak--until a therapist''s love broke through the silence. 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.

From the author of the phenomenal Sunday Times bestsellers ‘One Child’ and ‘Ghost Girl’, comes a startling and poignant memoir of three people''s victimisation and abuse – and their heartbreaking but ultimately successful steps to recovery, with the help of Torey Hayden, an extraordinary teacher.

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 Hayden responded in the only way she knew how—with courage, compassion, and dedication—demonstrating once again the tremendous power of love and the relilience of the human spirit.

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

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.

From acclaimed author Torey Hayden comes a relatable memoir about a special education teacher who recounts a transforming and transformative relationship with a former student who overcame abuse. Special education teacher Torey Hayden''s first book, One Child, was an international bestseller, thrilling readers on every continent. Their hearts were captured by Sheila, a silent, troubled girl who had been abandoned on a highway by her mother and abused by her alcoholic father, and who refused to speak. As Hayden writes in the prologue to this book, "This little girl had a profound effect on me. Her courage, her resilience, and her inadvertent ability to express that great, gaping need to be loved that we all feel—in short, her humanness—brought me into contact with my own." Since then, Hayden has gone on to write books about many of her students, but her fans continue to ask her, "What happened to Sheila?" The Tiger''s Child is her response. Here Hayden tells how Sheila, now a young woman, finally came to terms with her nightmare childhood. When Hayden was working on One Child, she showed the manuscript to Sheila, then a teenager, and was astonished to find that Sheila remembered almost nothing of her troubled younger years. She had no recollection of her many clashes with her teacher as Hayden tried to break through her emotional pain. And although Hayden had managed to get Sheila to communicate and become an active and lively child, Sheila''s home life was still very troubled. Her father had been sent to prison when she was eight and Sheila had run away from a series of foster homes until finally she was placed in a children''s home. But as Hayden continued to renew her relationship with the teenage Sheila, the memories slowly came back, bringing with them feelings of abandonment and hostility. Overwhelmed by the intensity of her awakening emotions, Sheila was driven to suicidal despair. The Tiger''s Child is the touching, inspiring story of how a maturing Sheila came to perceive her mother not as a monster who willfully cast off her eldest child, but as a weak, forlorn, ordinary human being. Able to appreciate her own strength and resilience, Sheila at last is free to overcome the haunting legacy of child abuse.

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 stunning and poignant account of an extraordinary teacher''s determination never to abandon a child in need from the internationally bestselling author of ‘One Child’ and No. 1 bestseller ‘Ghost Girl’.