Beautiful Child

The other book I read last week was called Beautiful Child. It was a page-turner, and I knew it would be because I read another of her books (called Ghost Girl) and I could hardly put it down. She's one of those writers who writes non-fiction but in a way that is very dramatic and suspenseful. The downside is that all her books are about child abuse, so it can be disturbing to read about. I recommend her books to anyone who is looking to read something fascinating and engaging, as long as the subject matter isn't too upsetting to them. One good thing is that her books always have (relatively) happy endings:

"Victoria Lynn Hayden, known as Torey L. Hayden (born May 21, 1951 in Livingston, Montana), is a child psychologist, special education teacher, university lecturer and writer of non-fiction books based on her real-life experiences with teaching and counselling children with special needs. Subjects covered in her books include autism, Tourette syndrome, sexual abuse, fetal alcohol syndrome, and elective mutism (now called selective mutism), her specialty.

"Hayden attended high school in Billings, Montana and graduated in 1969. She then attended Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. A little time after having written her most famous book One Child, Hayden moved to Wales in 1980 and got married to a Scot called Ken two years later. In 1985, she gave birth to her daughter Sheena. Hayden is now divorced."

I like her answer to this question (from her official website) because I am a process oriented person too:

Don’t you get depressed because so often you can’t make things better?

I am a “process oriented” person, as opposed to being a “goal oriented” person. I enjoy the process of doing things and as a consequence, the outcome does not matter as much to me. Hence I enjoy being in the classroom, being with the children and am very much in the present when I am working. Of course, I hope for the children’s sake that I will be able to help them and that their futures will be better, but for my own sake, the outcome and the future are not very important. I’ve noticed that the people who tend to feel depressed or who “burn out” are often those who are more goal oriented. They find it harder to enjoy the same experience when there are so few positive results.