Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights:#1 I had been abroad for almost two years, working full time as a writer, and I intended to return to my life in Wales, to my stone cottage, my dog, and my Scottish fiancé. But family matters brought me home. I was called a consultant resource person in my job description, and the children were termed behaviorally disordered.#2 I was coming to the conclusion that I wasn’t a well-directed person. I didn’t have a career, but I was constantly running into interesting opportunities. I was growing increasingly sensitive to how capricious my lifestyle was.#3 My second student, Mariana Gilchrist, arrived shortly after I returned to the room. She was eight and came with the kind of profile that was almost a cliché in this sort of classroom: borderline IQ, short attention span, overaggressive. She also had a history of precocious sexual behavior.#4 I was well prepared for Dirkie. They had all told me about Dirkie. He was 11 and had spent his life in institutions. He had had a history of bizarre family acts and abuse. His foster parents came with him that morning, dragging him between them. He struggled and screamed.