Reece, a seven year old boy, has been through four care givers and he is transferred to his fifth. He has many learning disabilities and he had a bad past. His parents abused him and taught him all the wrong things. He came to his care giver, Cathy, who has two other children. Both of them are girls and just a few years older than he is. Cathy was warned about his behavior issues such as head butting, biting, being violent, and even inappropriateness. Cathy was determined to make sure that Reece was cared for and taught the way he should be so that he can go to a real family. She wanted to change him from this devilish little boy to this sweet lovable seven year old. She spent days trying to show him right from wrong. Cathy made sure that he would attend school.
His public education turned out to be a very rough start because everything that he learned at the house seemed to be forgotten at school.
Reece got suspended many times because of his behavior. Cathy could not figure out why he was so different at school than he was at home. He had visitation with his biological mother every Wednesday and Friday. Cathy did not think that it was the best idea for his mom to have any part in his life because that always made Reece forget the right from wrong. Whenever Reece got in trouble at school, Cathy would have to come get him and take him home. Reece could never figure out what he had done wrong or he couldn’t ever remember what he did. He was indeed always apologetic for what he had done.
After this kept happening, Cathy really felt bad for Reece. The school wanted to isolate him into this one room with teaching one on one. They wanted to treat him like an animal. This poor little boy needed more help but how was he going to get the help from the school if they didn’t try to help and understand him. It was hard for Reece to trust anyone because of the way he was raised with his parents. Once that trust was broken, it made it hard for him to trust anyone.
One day Reece asked Cathy if his mom would ever find him wherever he might be.
Reece had many secrets he refused to talk about. Many people knew he had those secrets but every time he was asked about something in his childhood with his mom or dad, he would always say “don’t know”. Cathy asked Reece, “Do you have any secrets?” Reece answered “yes”. “What kind of secrets do you have? I won’t tell anyone. I am a very good listener.” Cathy asked. “Don’t know” said Reece.
After the conversation, Reece’s attitude changed and his behavior changed tremendously. He did very well in school and was like a completely different boy. Reece was the type of boy that wanted to do right but didn’t always know how to. Cathy grew quite attached to Reece during the ten months she had him in her care. She was hoping she would have him for the rest of the year but for Reece’s good, He was placed in a wonderful family that lived on a farm. Reece made his home there quickly and he was one of the happiest boys alive. This shows that it is easier to teach children right from wrong making it harder to teach someone that is older.
There are so many children today that are abused and they do not know the difference between right from wrong. They go around living everyday being abused thinking that this is normal. Thinking that this is the way life should be. If these issues aren’t stopped at a young age, they will grow up to be bad and dangerous people. Our society today is very strict on the subject of abuse of any kind. These children never know any better.
Have you ever witnessed abuse or have you ever been abused and didn’t know what to do? Did you ever want to talk to someone and find out how to get help and stop this from continuing? Here is a website below that can give you help with situations like that including who to talk to and how to find the help and even who to call.
http://stoprelationshipabuse.org/educated/avoiding-victim-blaming/
If you think that you are the only one being abused today, you aren’t. So many people are too afraid to even say anything about it or even to get help because they always think that it will get better or that it will stop. The sad truth is that it won’t stop. People are addicted to abuse like it is a drug. People get too much strength and pleasure from doing these actions. Abuse can even lead to death. Here is a perfect example of today’s laws with abuse. Often, those who committed this crime, were victims themselves.
I think this book was very hard to read. It was a good story but it was hard on my heart. It is hard to read about such a young soul being treated and going through the things Reece went through. It was so interesting to see how much work, time, and effort it took with him to get him on the right track of life. At first I thought he was always going to be like this. But throughout the book, the author did a great job with showing how he is learning and changing his ways to be a better person.
I wanted to feel so bad for Reece because he never did anything to deserve the life he had. He was brought into this world to be loved and cared for and not mistreated and taught wrongly.
I personally do not like reading. But something about this book really caught my attention. The ending of the book even made me cry. I was so happy when i read that Reece had a permanent home with a family that will love him and care for him the way any child deserves. To see this little boy transform from this person that nobody wanted into this boy that just filled your heart was heartbreaking.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who like drama. It is hard to read but it keeps you going. It makes you emotional yes but it is a well written book. This author has made a series of books. Here are all the books she wrote of true stories.
http://cathyglass.co.uk/books-library/?doing_wp_cron=1480703463.3521270751953125000000
These are all the books she has written. Unfortunately I have only read the one. I would definitely want to read more of her other books.