Reviewed by Jo Rogers, MyShelf.com
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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.
 
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