Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 Glen Tinbergen, the principal, was welcoming. He told me that the staff would meet me at lunchtime to introduce me to them, but for now, I was anxious to get to my room. It was ready for me.

#2 I had a new classroom on the second floor, last room on the left. It was a spacious corner room with large windows that gave a panoramic view of the snowy schoolyard and the ancient elms bordering it. The four children in my class were beautiful.

#3 I met with Reuben, who was diagnosed with autism. He was able to speak, use the toilet, and perform academic feats with considerable skill, but only within the confines of his handicap. He had been to California, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina to participate in programs designed to modify his more difficult behaviors.

#4 I had worked with elective mute children for the past ten years, and when I got a new student named Jadie, she was unlike anything I had ever seen before. She was hunched over and had her arms crossed under her, as if she were clutching an unwieldy load of books.