A Safe Place for Joey

by Mary MacCracken, Caitlin Thorburn (Reading)

From bestselling author and teacher Mary Maccracken comes the engaging and inspiring story of five troubled children who she fought to bring back from the brink Joey is the class clown, but alone proves to be an intensely dark seven-year old who still can't read.Eric is a kindergartener, left withdrawn and speechless by the horrors he's witnessed at home.Alice appears the model fifth year child, but secretly scores zero on every maths test.Charlie, an eight-year old, struggles to understand his place in the world, leaving him confused and alone.Ben comes from a comfortable life at home, but has been called stupid so many times he now believes it. These are some of the learning-disabled children who were in deep trouble until Mary MacCracken, an extraordinary therapist and teacher, works her magic with them and transforms their lives. Her heart-warming book is a testament to her talent, compassion and love.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Audiobook, Biography, True Story

9 pages, Audiobook

First published February 26, 2015

Reviews

[Tracie Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned so much from this book. I think knowing about learning disabilities, and how to correctly address them is important and I am so happy I now have more strategies and tools to add to my "toolbox" for when I become a teacher. I sometimes did find myself wanting more from this book however. I would have loved to have seen updates of the children as they got older and more of their personal stories. Although the learning and testing strategies were important, I felt that sometimes the childrens' stories were overshadowed by the technical.

[Charlotte Villette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review to follow.

[PinkAmy loves books, cats and naps · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Mary MacCracken’s last book, she’s now an evaluator and tutor for learning disabled children. She shares stories of five of her clients to illustrate the different types of issues impact students’ abilities to learn. She uses a strong mental health component to her work as most of the children believe they are “stupid” or “dumb”. Many have anxiety around their school work.

MacCracken goes into detail about the psychological and intelligence testing and since I had already studied and administered many of the test, I found that part tedious. A SAFE PLACE FOR JOEY focuses more on the academic portion of the children’s stories, which is an issue for a book written in the 1990s, because so much of what we know about the brain and learning has progressed. We now use the term learning differences, rather than disabilities because often these kids are just as bright but need to learn differently that the majority of their peers. Their strengths and weaknesses are atypical so they may need to learn math an alternative way for numbers to make sense.

Because neuroscience has progressed A SAFE PLACE FOR JOEY felt more obsolete than MacCracken’s previous books. I enjoyed the stories of the children most as well as MacCracken’s ability to teach to the strengths of her clients. I’ve always said the hardest part of working with kids is their parents, and she illustrates why in the case studies.

[Lyndsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Authentic stories but occasionally I lost interest

[Jamie Howerton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book should be required for anyone who works with children. The passion that Mary has for helping children is very clear and reading the stories of some of these children is fascinating.

[CikguKaykayAlkhair · Rating 4 out of 5]

at last. i have completed all four books for this set. i admire how Mary was so passion on saving the children when everyone else does not even care about young children and their future. it is so hard to care and teach other children that is not yours.but she loves them. despite. she use many of her ages to care for the children. i also could try some of the method of learning to teach my own kids. a good book for teachers too.

[Hannah Howard · Rating 3 out of 5]

read a while ago but forgot to log, and then my app got deleted :( i remember enkoying this as i was reading but i cant remember much which tbh means that it couldnt have made the best of impressions as i can normally remember

[Julia Katic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mary MacCracken really has a gift for helping children with difficulties learning. An inspiring and enjoyable read.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute book. Made me miss my kiddos a little bit!

[Patricia Kaniasty · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was interesting but kind of slow. I understand that it is not that kind of story but still, it should not have taken me this long to read it. I liked her first 2 books the best.

[Drusilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really makes you take a look at teaching and how to beat reach each child especially the children with more challenging issues.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know I liked some of her other books better

[Catalina Vodincear · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it, every single bit of it!!
Want to know what happened to Joey! I hope he is doing well!

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually read this long, long ago, before I started keeping a book journal.

[Marwa Ghazy · Rating 5 out of 5]

April 2024