Tigers Child

The book "The Tiger's Child" is about a woman named Torey Hayden and one of her students, Sheila. Torey is a teacher for disabled children. When Sheila was six years old she was sent to the school where Torey was working. Sheila had a very harsh childhood. At the age of four she was abandoned by her 18 year old mother on a highway late at night. A year or so later, She was sent to live with her father in a migrant camp. While she was there, she was abused by her uncle and her father's friends. Sheila had awful personal hygiene and little schooling, although she was very bright. Another incident that occurred was when she was six years old Sheila abducted a three year old boy from his yard. She led him into the woods and set fire to him. Once she was enrolled in Torey's class, they developed a close relationship that went beyond the classroom. Torey cleaned Sheila up and worked and spent time with her in and out of school. Torey realized that Sheila had a remarkably high IQ. June soon came around and Sheila was advancing to the 3rd grade and Torey was going to a different school to teach in a different city. Torey lost touch with Sheila over the years. She never wanted to leave her but everyone told her, and she realized, that it was just a teacher/student relationship and like all the others, it had to come to an end with the end of the school year. Torey always wondered how and where Sheila was, so just before her 14th birthday, Torey located Sheila and went to see her. She was living in a small house with her father who had supposedly gave up alcohol and drugs. Their reunion was akward for both of them and not quite what Torey had been expecting. Torey had been assuming that Sheila would be just like she had left her seven years ago. However, instead she had wild clothing and blazing yellow straggly hair. After the first visit, Torey made frequent visits to see Sheila in hopes that they could rebuild their friendship. They went to the movies, shopping, out to dinner, and many other things like that. When summer began, Torey asked her if she'd like to help out in a summer school program with herself, her friend Jeff, and a teaching aide, Miriam. This worked out well. She was able to work with children with many various disabilities. She befriended a young boy who had been adopted from Columbia. He didn't talk and was...

... middle of paper ...

...these were important points made in this book. All of these things were illustrated by Torey and Sheila. They were very close friends and had a relationship that was similar to that of a mother and daughter. They loved each other for their personality and the things they did. Torey cared for Sheila so much that she did everything she could to help her out. Sheila was grateful for this and I think that's about caring.

I can apply the story of Torey and Sheila to my own life quite well. I can do this because I work seven hours a week with my three year old cousin who is autistic. I can understand how hard it is to get disabled and abused children to communicate and be able to learn.

This book was very effective. It was interesting as well as well wriiten. It gave me a clear idea of how life can be for an abused, neglected child. Although it's disturbing at parts, I think it gives a positive outlook. This book is a sequel to a book written about Sheila when she was younger. I plan on reading this book now also. I would recommend this book to just about anyone, especially people who want to learn more about abused children.