Ghost Girl: The True Story of a Child in Peril and the Teacher Who Saved Her

A teacher/psychologist who has chronicled her interaction with dysfunctional children in Murphy's Boy and Somebody Else's Kid , Hayden entered the life of a severely troubled electively mute eight-year-old girl in a special education class in ``small-town America.'' In class, ``Jadie might as well have been a ghost''--no one spoke to her, nor did she engage anyone else. Hayden's success in drawing the child out also revealed the horror: Jadie's trauma appeared to have been the result of sexual abuse or satanic cult practices. A police case ensued; Jadie and her siblings were placed in foster care, but evidence to indict the parents remains inconclusive. Hayden describes the difficulties of believing a child with a history of bizarre psychological behavior, but ultimately Jadie's is a success story, and a testament to the powers of caring and commitment. (May)