Chapter 34

Chapter 34 marks the final chapter of the book. Tomaso has already gone. Claudia has a false alarm with her baby, and then ends up having a not-so-false alarm the next day. She has a baby girl named Jenny who was born prematurely at 4.4 pounds. A couple of nights later Torey gets a phone call from Claudia. She is very scared and tells Torey that Jenny is so small and that she has signed the papers for someone else to adopt her. Torey helps to make her feel better and tells her that she thinks she has made a good decision.

On the last day of school, Lori wants to celebrate with her general education class, so Torey and Boo go for a walk around a park and through a zoo. She realizes that Boo has made some positive changes, but that he is still the imaginative 'dream child' that first entered her classroom at the beginning of the year. When Mrs. Franklin comes to pick him up, he does not say goodbye but rather recites the 'Tornado Watch' recording that comes on the television during storms.

Lori comes into the classroom at the very end of the day to get her things. She ends up dropping everything and crying. She has just been told that she did not pass the first grade, and that she will have to repeat it again the next year while her sister moves on. Lori becomes mad at Torey because she doesn't understand why Torey didn't do anything to stop it. Torey explains to her again and again that there was nothing she could have done, and if there was she would have done it. Lori is worried because she thinks she and her sister will no longer be twins. Of course Torey tells her that this is not true, and something 'silly like school' will never stop them from being twins. Torey decides to ask Lori to do something to celebrate (of course, Lori does not feel like there IS anything to celebrate). Eventually Lori decides that she wants to bring Libby along because she will be sad about school ending. Torey tries to convince her that just the two of them should go, because she feels so guilty about not being able to help Lori move on to second grade. When Torey is trying to explain, Lori says, "Don't worry so much, Tor. You always worry. It isn't that important. Now come on." (pg. 331). And they went.

There is an epilogue to the story, and there has since been communication with the children (that of which is on Torey Hayden's website). I do not want to COMPLETELY give away where they are now, so I will leave that to anyone who wants to actually read the book, which I HIGHLY recommend.

I enjoyed this book because it gave me so many great examples of situations one may have to encounter (or something similar) when working with students who have exceptionalies. It really makes one think about the education system and how the children who do not really have a 'place to belong' really feel. It also talks about some of the positives of mainstreaming, as well as the negatives. Of course, this book was written in the early eighties and things have certainly changed since then. We are constantly trying to improve the system and make school a positive place for EVERYONE to be educated. The children talked about in this story, all so different, also share the common trait of not having a place to belong. Their stories are very bittersweet and one definitely feels like they make a connection with almost everyone in the story. Torey Hayden has some incredibly inspiring quotes, my favorites being quoted in this blog. Just looking at the quotes alone should give anyone the inspiration to help students in need of extra guidance. Although I will not be licensed in special education, with mainstreaming I will have students in my class with all sorts of exceptionalities, and this book will be a great reference when it comes to thinking about the feelings of my students, and remembering to push through and fight for these students when no one else will. Sometimes the classroom is the only place where students feel like they belong, and it will be my job to make it feel that way. I want all of my future students to know that I care about them and about what happens to them, and that I want them to succeed, rather than setting them up to fail. Somebody Else's Kids by Torey Hayden was a very fast read and I recommend it to not only those going into education but anyone in general. It was definitely an eye-opener.