Ghost Girl: The True Story of a Child in Peril and the Teacher Who Saved Her Mass Market Paperback – May 1, 1992

As a long time fan of Torey Hayden and her work, I am drawn again and again to re-read her books, including Ghost Girl. I've taught school, worked with special needs kids in a couple group homes, and have mothered seven myself. Torey's ability to find joy and humor in the often nearly hopeless lives of her students really helped me to find perspective as an educator and a parent. Her insistence that the loud, obnoxious, and (seemingly) unloveable are often an inspiration (because there's a little person fighting to be seen behind the attitude) really helped me to view my challenges as a teacher and mother differently. Quiet, compliant children are sometimes just already convinced they don't matter much, and being reminded of that helped me too.There is not necessarily a nice, story book ending to the story of Jadie, a severely traumatized child who was either psychotic or was being ritually abused by members of an occult group. Life is like that; messy, chaotic, dynamic, unpredictable. Also, Torey Hayden was a youngish professional at the time, who was often made to feel inadequate or off base by 'seasoned' professionals who knew better, and who were not open to new ideas about special education. Again, like the rest of real life, hindsight is 20/20, and we all can look back later in life and wish we'd seen more clearly, acted more decisively, or swam more forcefully upstream. Torey's honesty in writing about her own second thoughts made the story more compelling, in my opinion. The lack of a nice tidy ending is frustrating in exactly the way real life is frustrating. So often, we don't get the happy ending payoff we all wish for.However, for those stating that Torey's other books had better endings, I bet to differ. Sheila, the abused and neglected little six year old in "One Child" did great in third grade, then was thrown back into foster care, abused, neglected, and worst of all, was never even told she was gifted, and was never tracked for academics. The system forgot her. Torey found her and reconnected, in "The Tiger's Child", but by then Sheila, a hostile teen in a juvenile detention facility, thought Torey, not her mother, had dumped her on a freeway. Torey's story of reconnecting with her, her horror at discovering that no one in social services had tracked Sheila or advocated for her, and her efforts to put some of the pieces back together for this 'one child' are marinated in the sad twists of real life.In another of Torey's books, "Just Another Kid", Geraldine, a little girl from Belfast, Ireland, is so severely damaged by the violence in the community and in her family that she pretty much ends up institutionalized for life. No happy ending there either.Frustrating when there's not a perfect ending? Yes. But the resilience of every teacher and social worker who slogs away, trying to make a difference one child at a time, in spite of messy lives, disappointing odds, and unpredictable results, is to be celebrated all the more for the guts it takes to stick it out rather than finding a happier fiction book to escape into. Real life is hard work! Torey Hayden and the stories of "her" kids challenge me over and over again to find joy in the journey, and to remember that living with heart is, in the end, better than living perfectly.

I am still a paper book reader. But I also love Tory Hayden books she is great

This is an amazing teacher! One who doesn’t give up on the troubled student, who makes herself available when that student needs her and was paying attention when that student started giving signals that she needed help. Don’t get me wrong we have amazing teachers out there who are willing to walk on hot coals for their students to get the help they need. Then there are teachers out there who take advantage of their students innocence and cause harm for the rest of their lives. I would definitely recommend this book especially to all new teachers. 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼🤓❤️📚❣️❣️

I find this true Torey Hayden book to be darker than all the rest. It has an air of mystery. We never find out what exactly is going on, all we do know is that there is a very hurt girl, Jadie who is in desperate need of help. The book takes us through events while presenting different possibilities to what could be behind them. Even though the ending isn't settled like a story book, I don't think it should have been. Real life rarely ties up all neatly like a story, but I think Torey Hayden did a wonderful job of explaining each of her theories.This book may be unsettling and hard to read at times, but I did develop care for the main characters, and had no trouble seeing it through.The other students portrayed in the book are interesting and at times funny, you will enjoy most of the classroom scenes!Give it a chance! This story is what hooked me into all of the others. Its the one that has stayed with me the most.

Ghost Girl begins on a wonderfully happy note! Little 8 year-old Jadie hasn't spoken a word during her time at the elementary school and is put in Torey Hayden's Special Ed class as soon as she moved into town. Elective Mutism was Ms. Hayden's specialty, and within minutes of meeting Jadie had her speaking. From there, the story the little girl tells is not happy at all. In fact, it is a very difficult story to read about.Jadie is frightened to tell Ms. Hayden about the abuse fearing that she wouldn't be believed. Ms. Hayden had trouble believing it ... at first. This is a well-written, interesting peek into the world of an educational psychologist and a girl who needed to be heard and believed. We also get to hear about the other children in the Special Education class. They are fascinating in their own right. One is autistic, another has a severe behavior disorder and another is mildly mentally retarded. After her meeting with Ms. Hayden, Jadie responds to the other kids when spoken to, but a whole new world opens up to her when she discovers that the cloakroom doors lock! Jadie, who lives across the street from school, comes back after school to visit her teacher who is at her desk in the cloakroom. Sensing that Jadie wants to talk but needs more security, she offers to lock the doors. When she does, Jadie begins to tell her an unbelievable tale of abuse that she and her younger sister are experiencing. This book makes you want to hug your children. I recommend it. (WARNING: Graphic descriptions of sexual abuse.)

I had to read this book for a class in college and I wasn't dissapointed. Since I am going into the teaching field I thought it was great that Jade or Jadie was helped by a teacher. The book however is a little disturbing. It is an easy read but be warned is a book that will keep you wanting to know more but is also about a subject most people don't want to hear about. It is a good book though if you are looking to read it.

Miss Hayden has FAR more courage, compassion and patience than any educator I’ve ever known. Many educators give up too easily, or give in..Miss Hayden gives the struggling children her all.