Customer Reviews

A Song of Healing

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Although I found twelve-year-old Robert's analyses and comprehension to be much older than his years, his insight is highly developed because he is an artistic prodigy. A Song of Healing is an altruistic and hopeful approach to life, and it shows that a family commitment can break the abuse cycles.

Educators can discover many shortcomings in the teaching methods of Robert's teachers and principle, whose actions encourage his classmates to taunt him and drive him even deeper into his own world. They do not know that he is the chief caretaker for his baby sister. His mother has had a breakdown and his father is a typical bully. What is rewarding in this book is that once a family begins to pull together they do overcome the distances that simple survival has created.

During a summer in Flagstaff, Arizona with his grandmother, Robert finally releases all of his anger through his drawings. Then, he begins to see the world with a new perspective. His portfolio grows with his confidence and knowledge of his own self-worth. When summer ends and his family reunites, each has found a lost part of themselves. Everyone except his father, who is as lost as ever. He bashes into the house, breaks things and Robert, and ends up in jail.

The next school year brings Robert to Mr. Spencer. If there were more teachers like this kind man in today's world, we would find that our children are not simply taught the facts, but the joy of love. Accepting others without judgments helps each person accept who they are. This aspect of the book brings hope, and makes it worthwhile to see beyond the rough spots of the first novel from a gifted writer. Four stars.

Victoria Tarrani

Childhood should be a time of joy and learning, but all too often it is
a hell in which reality and nightmare become confused in a child's mind.
Robert Dwire's childhood includes an alcoholic mother; an absent,
abusive father and full-time care of his baby sister, Sandy. His
teacher, controlled by a rigid educational system, reviles Robert for
his art. Unbeknownst to Robert, his life will soon change in a series of
miracles that redefine his life and relationship with his family,

himself, and the world around him.

The story opens with Robert being singled out and embarrassed in front
of the rest of his class for his artwork. Until now Robert's artistic
talent has been unappreciated, yet it is his only means of expression
about his life, reflecting mostly anger about the circumstances. Jamie
Dwire, his mother, is a practicing alcoholic, whose husband
unpredictably appears to give her further abuse. She is not strong
enough to stand up to him. When he finishes abusing her, Robert becomes
his next target. His mother makes a decision to enter a rehabilitation
program, so Robert and Sandy spend the summer with their maternal
grandmother, Marcia Dahlen. These two events, pivotal points in his
life, begin a series of wonderful changes in the
family's life.

During the summer, the character of Robert's art changes, reflecting a
greater expressional talent. More positive changes happen in Robert's
life, but not before he gets another taste of brutal realism. His father
makes one final visit, further abusing Jamie and breaking Robert's
shoulder. He starts the new school year in a cast extending straight out
from his shoulder. Mr. Spencer, his new teacher, uses unique teaching
methods, differing from the
standard inflexible curriculum. Kristen, one of his classmates, becomes
an important friend to Robert, as they travel together from adolescent
friendship to a deeper level of feelings, with happy and sad events

occurring along the way.

Robert, used to cruelty from teachers, classmates and others, is leery
of Mr. Spencer at first. Yet Mr. Spencer wins his new class with
exercises designed to assure each student's self-worth. Mr. Spencer's
methods dispel mistrust and create an irrevocable bond the children are
at first reticent to accept. The gentleness the teacher exhibits soon
pulls the students, who are strangers, into a cohesive group of friends.

Chris Duschik takes the subject of childhood and creates a story that
covers a variety of life experiences and blends them with a delicate
balance. The main characters are well developed, creating an affinity
for their problems and personalities. At first, one aspect of the book
bothered me, the simplistic language, until I realized why it was
written that way.

"A Song of Healing" is a book carefully crafted for both adults and
children to learn about each other's needs. In many ways, it's the
"Teach Your Children" of the literary world.

"A Song of Healing" is a must read for anyone having an interest in education. The profound impact teachers have on the lives of their students can never be over analyzed. Through this story Duschik provides an inspiring example of how teachers need to move beyond assumptions and politics and focus their energy on the individual people who pass through their room year after year.

Duschik tells a tale of a boy struggling to find where he belongs in his world and how a teacher can help him discover his unique beauty. The true strength of Duschik's writing is his ability to capture the essence of the teacher, David Spencer, and his ability to meaningfully impact the lives of those he meets. Having known David Spencer for years, as an educator and as a person, I struggle day to day to embrace the true gift of the real David Spencer - the genuine beauty in teaching children rather than teaching curriculum and standards. Duschik's story "A Song of Healing" is an outstanding reminder of what is most important in education - the students.

My rating of this book is based on its value as a model for an improved learning style that a teacher can bring to the classroom. Although the book is a novel, the parts about David Spencer, the teacher, are apparently non-fictional. I was very impressed with the methods described here.

As a novel about a child overcoming his and his family's problems, this is a three-star book. It is heart-warming for anyone considering that context, but is flawed as a work of fiction by putting mature adult concepts and words into the mouths of the young characters like Robert and Kristen. The book also describes a state of perfection that is overly idealized, and makes the action seem unreal. The healing process needed a few more flaws in it.

The book tells the story of Robert whose father has been abusing his mother and him. Robert is a kinesthetically oriented person, and expresses his feelings best through art. This may mean drawing a picture of something that frightens him, and then throwing the picture away. In a standard factory-school environment, he does not do well. After his father is taken off to jail, Robert gets a new start with help from his grandmother, mother, and his new teacher. Through this experience, he develops his self-esteem, establishes good relationships, and becomes an able learner.

The essence of the classroom environment is to make each child feel special, and connected and supported by every other student. The exercises that were described for the first day of school were most impressive. Any teacher will feel inspired and encouraged to read about them. A bigger challenge will be doing things like having lunch with the students every day. I suspect that the activities described here would also be good for adding to the kinesthetic abilities of the students who are normally visual or auditory in their primary learning style.

After you finish this book, I suggest that you think about ways that you could follow these examples as a parent. How can you be closer to and more supportive of your children?

Seek to support first, then listen, and then respond!

A SONG OF HEALING is a book every teacher should read. Though it is a fictionalized story taken from Mr Duschik's years of teaching experiences, it does examine the herd mentality of some in the teaching profession who cannot seem to realize that all children are not the same. The one real character in this book is a teacher named Mr. Spencer, and he is a superb example of what a teacher should be. Mr. Spencer has learned there is one universal thing all kids need, and that is love. He loves his kids as much as they will let him. He also teaches them to care for each other and to work together in everything they do. He also realizes some children are more gifted than others in some ways, and he teaches them to use that gift to benefit themselves and everyone around them. And he teaches those who have problems at home to use their gifts to heal themselves and others. His teaching methods are different, and he is criticized for them even though they work. Every teacher that teaches for the love of children and teaching can learn from this book. A SONG OF HEALING is also, though fictiion, a textbook to teach us how to heal the broken places in our own lives. It has helped me to understand why I write. That is my gift, my song of healing.

This is a novel that reaches out and touches not only those who have lived their own, hard pasts, but hopefully those that are in a position to help and need to learn a way to do it. It's about a family, in which all learn to realize they all have suffered and then use the gifts that God has given each of them in their hearts and talents to go beyond hurt and anger to understanding and will to conquer the pain and heal each other. A boy "Robert" that we all have known or known of, a woman that could be any woman out there if she can't find herself or runs from what she sees until someone else or a destitute situation pushes her into the right direction, finally. A grandmother that we could only pray to be like when we're at that stage in our lives, and of course, and extraordinary teacher who cares enough about life to understand it's up to the youth, and his responsibility to find a way to teach the youth, to realize that they need to love themselves and then reach out and touch the lives of others in the same positive way and hope to create a better, more caring, world.

The author weaves a compelling tale of a young boy finding his way through the darkness of his life by the guiding light of art. In an age of 'canned', protocol educational schemes, the author outlines the unique non-fictional teaching of an award winning educator. The reader is transported into the classroom for a 'center stage' look at these refreshing approaches to the 'higher' education of our youth. What an incredible read.

The above mentioned book touched my heart and left with me a sincere appreciation of the story's content and the emotional intensity of the author. I would recommended this book to parents, adults, young adults, educators, counselors, social workers, clergy, and all those folks who come into contact with children.

A SONG OF HEALING functions like a parable, telling the story of one boy's growth and change. The simple lessons, however, have universal application for individuals in a much broader scope.

Robert's untidy appearance conceals a gifted artist. Rather than encouraging his creativity, however, the traditional school system criticizes his waste of time and discourages his artistic expression. His broken home has left his face hardened, hiding the gentle child within. Classmates find him an easy target, and teachers find him a distraction to the other students.

Robert's life suddenly changes, however, providing him an opportunity to explore his artist gifts of expression. Nurture replaces criticism in a classroom where learning doesn't just occur within a pencil and the head down. The learning experience expands to bring all elements together, including art, movement, and community. Through an unusual teacher, Robert learns to value of himself and those around him. Individuality is celebrated within the community of a classroom, and those experiences reach far beyond the school.

As a child frequently frustrated because I don't learn well in traditional classrooms, A SONG OF HEALING touched my heart, striking an intensely personal response. During my two years of teaching experience, I successfully employed some of the techniques described, including gathering in circles for class discussion, finding the simple rearrangement of desks redefines the energy of the entire classroom expereince. I have also participated in tossing "energy balls" and other energy work that allows groups of completely disparate people work together as a community. Consequently, my first hand experience not only validates Duschik's work, but makes me want to share this book with educators, parents, and anyone else I can gather as an audience. Very highly recommended.

At the end of his seventh grade, Robert's abusive father left. His mother, Jamie, went to a hospital for the summer. Robert and his baby sister, Sandy, went to be with Grandma Dahlen. Jamie was determined to get well and raise her children as best as she could. Grandma Dahlen would help.

Robert spent much of the summer learning about his mother's childhood. He visited all her favorite places and listened to stories about how well his mother could make music. She never played her instrument any more, out of guilt. Robert's gift was for art. He spent the summer drawing everything around him and his interpretation of his mother when she was young and happy.

As eighth grade began, Jaime was with Robert, Sandy, and Grandma Dahlen again. Jaime saw Robert's amazing drawing talent and made sure he was assigned a teacher who would appreciate his art. Therefore, Mr. Spencer came into Robert's life.

Mr. Spencer was a different type of teacher. He nurtured caring, sensitivity, and helped develop the talent of each individual child. Between Robert's unusual teacher, his mother, and his new school friends, Robert would do much growing, and much healing.

**** This book shows a multitude of things to the reader. It shows that people CAN get out of abusive situations, however, it is not easily done and much healing is needed afterward. It shows a different way for teachers to teach inside the classroom, helping the children in more ways than just book learning. If the reader is pre-teen and just out of an abusive life, it shows hope and gives strength.

The book is written simply so the reader may be an adult or as young as age ten. Well done! ****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.