From the bestselling author of One Child comes the story of three of former special education teacher Torey Hayden’s most extraordinary challenges.

Nine-year-old Cassandra, kidnapped by her father and found starving, dirty, and picking through garbage cans—is a child prone to long silences and erratic, violent behavior.

Charming, charismatic four-year-old Drake will speak only in private to his mother—while his tough, unbending grandfather's demands for an immediate cure threatens to cause irreparable harm.

And though she had never worked with adults, Hayden agrees to help fearful and silent eighty-two-year-old massive stroke victim Gerda—discovering in the process that a treatment's successes could prove nearly as heartbreaking as its limitations.

What does it take to break through to a soul locked away by trauma, family secrets, and the ravages of time?

• Dissociative Disorder: The battle to reach Cassandra, a nine-year-old survivor of kidnapping and abuse, whose fractured mind has created a secret family of ‘Snakes’ to cope with her past.
• A Shocking Family Secret: The mystery of four-year-old Drake, whose silence is not what it seems, concealing a devastating deception that has jeopardized his future.
• Aphasia and Lost Memories: An unlikely bond with Gerda, an eighty-two-year-old stroke victim, whose fragmented speech unlocks a lifetime of hardship and unspoken truths.
• An Unforgettable Non-Fiction Memoir: From bestselling author Torey Hayden, a powerful and moving look at the world of child psychology and the unbreakable resilience of the human spirit.