Reviews:

June 1, 2001 - Jo Rogers - Reviewed at www.MyShelf.com - Inspirational

A SONG OF HEALING is the fictionalized recollections of the author during his years of teaching.  The only real character is that of the teacher, Mr. Spencer.

Robert Dwire is an eighth grade student in a school that leaves the children in only one classroom until they begin high school.  Robert's alcoholic father, who often beat Robert, is now gone for good.   His mother has only recently begun recovery from her drug addiction.

Robert is a gifted artist, and through the summer has learned about his mother and her music and how she had lost the desire for music.  But he also learned, with his Grandma Dahlen's encouragement, that his art could help him heal from the abuse.  He wanted more than anything for his mother to use her music in the same way. 

Then, Robert was placed in Mr. Spencer's class.  Mr. Spencer is an unorthodox teacher who first teaches his class to care about each other and to work together to learn the rest of the curriculum.  He is the first teacher to recognize that Robert's art isn't a distraction, but a gift. With his encouragement, Robert learns to use his art to go beyond expressing the things that disturb him, and to tell a story of his healing. But can Robert help his mother to go back to her music and use it in the same way?

A SONG OF HEALING has helped me to understand why I turned to writing when my oldest sister was abusing me, and how it has helped me heal from the abuse.  Now, I am using it to sing my own song of healing.  If you have a need to heal your spirit, read this book.  It will get you started.

-------------------------------------------------

Barnes and Noble Review from Jo Rogers:

A GUIDE FOR TEACHING AND HEALING
A SONG OF HEALING is a work of fiction, taken from the teaching experiences of Mr. Duschik, but it is more than a good story. The student, Robert Dwire is fictional, but his teacher, Mr. Spencer is a real person and an example of what teachers should be. His methods, for which he is criticized by educators with a herd mentality, are different, but they work. The first thing he teaches is caring for each other and working together. It is a lesson that will take the students far. But this book is also about a child with a gift, the gift of art. Robert has used it to relieve the stress of abuse and neglect at home, but none of the teachers thought to look beneath the art to the more serious problem. With the help of Mr. Spencer, Robert learns to use his art for a gift of healing. But he also learns to use it to help others. Though Robert is fictional, he is a very real example of an abused and neglected child. His story is one you will never forget. Perhaps you, too, will find your gift, your personal song of healing. I did.

Extraordinary -- Very highly recommended, April 18, 2001 - www.wordweaving.com
Reviewer: editor@wordweaving.com (see more about me) from Atlanta, GA United States
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 artistic 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 experience. I have also participated in tossing "energy balls" and other energy work that allows groups of completely disparate people to 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.

Healing through the gifts within..., April 25, 2001
Reviewer: rebecca@seasonedwithlove.com (see more about me)
Robert is a sensitive soul living in an insensitive technological world. His broken home life and abusive father only teaches him about the chaotic side of life. He finds an escape through art, yet his talents are not recognized until Grandmother Dahlen helps to give him confidence through her compassionate influence.

A Song of Healing is a story that shows how an insightful teacher can make a difference in a young adult's life. Mr. Spencer is based on a non-fictional character named David Spencer (an award winning teacher) who made this book possible through his unique view of life. In Mr. Spencer's class, Robert finds a safe environment where he can be himself. He also finds friends who understand him and grows spiritually as he takes strength from his new found acceptance and applies it to the incredible challenges he faces.

Chris Duschik also based this hopeful story on his own teaching experiences and observations. I recommend this book to young adults who may perhaps feel their artistic nature is not understood by others. As many seek to find answers to the education problems in our country, the answer may be found in knowing that we are all individuals with the potential to make schools a more peaceful place for children to thrive. If we can encourage love instead of hate, perhaps there is hope for peace instead of violence.

A Song of Healing emphasizes the importance of human connections and shows how everyone has a song inside of them waiting to be sung. When we appreciate the differences of those around us, perhaps then we can too can sing our most beautiful songs and help to heal the world around us.

Improved Paradigms for Learning, May 8, 2001
Reviewer: Donald Wayne Mitchell (see more about me) from a management consultant in Boston
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 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!

Donald Mitchell, co-author of The Irresistible Growth Enterprise and The 2,000 Percent Solution

The Exploration of the Healing Power of Art, February 18, 2001
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.

Song of Healing, February 3, 2001
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.

If we could all learn to understand, May 1, 2001
Reviewer: janice prestine (see more about me) from PHOENIX, AZ United States