One Child

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One Child is a book written by the American author and psychologist Torey Hayden, and which was published in the United States in 1980. “One Child” has meanwhile been translated into 27 languages, and dramatized as an interactive opera. In 1995 the story became a film whose title is "Untamed Love."

Plot summary

The book tells the story of a six-year-old girl named Sheila who tries to burn a three-year-old boy. There is no place for her at the hospital, so she becomes a pupil in the class of Torey Hayden, where she spends five months. During the first time, Sheila is an aggressive, inapproachable and concurrently violative child, who suffers from the brutal separation from her mother and her little brother Jimmie. Since they left, Sheila has lived with her father in a colony which is populated by miners. Hayden recognises Sheila’s high intelligence and diagnoses an IQ measuring 182^[1], which is a score 52 points over giftedness-level and refers to the category profoundly gifted. At the end, Hayden’s class ends for good. The story behind this book is factual; it occurred in Iowa^[1] in the early 1970s.

Today

Sheila is now in her thirties, leader of a restaurant and still remains a single. She lives in her home with two dogs and two cats and she devotes her time to helping animal rights. She declares that she is happy today. ^[2]

Sequel

The book’s sequel is "The Tiger’s Child." It tells about the reunion of Hayden and Sheila.

External links

• Information about “One Child”

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "One Child"
2. ^ torey-hayden.com