I really enjoyed this book. I admired the author for actually being able to help those children, and for being so patient and caring with them. This book really reminded me of the books by Torey L. Hayden and anyone who liked this one would love her books.

I really loved this book. If it isn't my favorite then it is probably on my list of top 10. I have a brother who is autistic and I found this a touching story and I reccomend it!

"If We Could Hear the Grass Grow" Is a touching story of a group of disturbed children and their summer with a gifted teacher and therapist. It is a sad but uplifting account of mental illness, chang, and growth. A must read for anyone who cares about children.

This class taught in an undisclosed school in Connecticut is a delightful, quasi-pioneer voyage with five children with a boatload of emotional baggage.

Douglas -- At 10, he is the oldest and the ringleader. Raised by his maternal grandmother, he has no idea of the where- abouts of his natural parents. He has one older bro- ther who is severely retarded. Bright and outspoken and very funny, Douglas copes with his issues by alt- ernating aggression and clowning. His grandmother fears he will end up in jail.

Kevin -- Also 10. Quiet and originally unassuming, he appears to be Douglas' opposite number. An abusive father and a forum to express his formerly unspoken aggressions helps open Kevin up. He appears to fit the classic profile of passive aggression and one chilling episode of his aggression was when he killed the class pet, a pregnant fish by chopping her to bits with his ruler. He also would go on "sit down strikes" and refuse to do his work books.

Eddie -- At 8, a firey little dynamo. An abusive mother who has questionable boyfriends, Eddie lashes out at any- thing and anybody. He has a younger sister with whom he has an aggressive relationship.

Jonathan - At 8, Jon appears to have a tenuous grip on reality. He is obsessed with ghosts and bodily functions. An encopretic, he is cured of this problem when the author refused to allow him to remain in class after soiling episodes.

Julie -- Also 8. The only girl, she chafes against being adopted. She has mild dyslexia and is antagonistic towards her adoptive parents. Over time, she is able to make peace with them.

The book is a delightful slice of history. The Blackout of 1965 is mentioned and so are some events of the era. I found it interesting to see how these five interacted with one another. It was nice to see an update of sorts at the end of the book (which I first read in 6th grade). Douglas, Julie and Jon were eventually mainstreamed. Kevin left just prior to the end of the year and his whereabouts remained unknown to the author. Eddie entered a residetial treatment center and the author laments that he was the only one of her pupils who wasn't mainstreamed.

Eleanor Craig's work is the most inspiring account of a disturbed child's behavior patterns. Being in the field of child psychology myself, I found this book to be a great account of a teacher's personal emotions, physical actions, and persistence in accordance with the behavior of the children in her group. The vivid language and explicit detail allowed one to see the situation as it really was and not just feel like we were getting a "cleaned up" rendition. One gets great insight into the psyche of the children as well as to what can and cannot benefit them. This book is definitely on my highly recommended list and I am going to try to get many other books by Eleanor Craig whom I find to be a tremendous author :o)

Eleanor Craig really hit me. Five emotionally disturbed children with abusive and ignorant parents. it should really make people wonder how well kids are really brought up and taken care of. if children and parents really need help, there should be help available with easy access and be available at all times to needy people. there is something wrong with the world today if parents cannot be treated as well as children. so, my parents will only love me if i'm normal? Let's get with it, kids and parents should be able to get the help they need.

This is a valuable book for anyone who is personally involved, or knows someone who is involved battling breast cancer. This woman was mis-diagnosed and fought thru the courtroom and chemo-room to save her life. I've talked with her and she takes Tamoxifin daily and has been living every moment for the past thirteen years!

The author claims that "Matt," the central figure in this story is a composite of more than one client. If so, how much truth is in the account of this allegedly feral child who runs naked and wild through his home, defecates at will in the basement, screeches at people and throws feces at visitors? Matt's mother is illiterate and often confuses words, e.g. she calls a "diagram" a "diaphragm" and the author "Keggie" instead of Ms. Craig.

Matt has a kitestring of diagnoses, all of which the author appears to tax on his overwhelmed mother and stern father. Later in the story, it comes out the man is really Matt's stepfather and Matt's mother had other children who were taken into custody.

If a "Matt" ever existed, how much of this account is factual? As the other reviewer noted, mental illness have a biochemical/neurological base. Abuse and neglect compound any problems, but these twin evils don't necessarily cause neurological impairment....

...but as has been stated here, how much of it is true is unknown. That does take away from the effectiveness of the story, but it is still an interesting look into the work of social work and "the system" used (or not used) when dealing with difficult children and their families.

The character of Nellie will effectively enrage you with her inept manner of "parenting", which serves to further illustrate one of the points of this book, which is that the system and its individual workers can only do so much.

Eleanor Craig, as the author of this work, seems to be trying to take on the niche carved out by Torey Hayden in the portrayal of disturbed children, although Ms. Hayden's works have never had the "composite of many cases" disclaimer attached, adding to the real-life drama of her work.

From other reviews I have read, this is definitely not one of Ms. Craig's better works (I picked it up at a second-hand shop) but her others are more read-worthy. I look forward to checking them out even if just for comparison's sake.

I loved this book. Ms. Craig is a dedicated and caring human being who does not give up. Nellie, Matt's mother,who was in extremely difficult straits, had the courage to begin to trust another person, in order to help her son.