Books like Petey

My 4th grade son's class read this together. He came home talking about it. And then, luckily, they got to have a phone interview with the author! As he learned more about the back story of Petey from the author, he came to love the book even more. One day while we were in the library, he insisted that we check the book out so I could read it too. I agreed and we brought it home. Technically, it wasn't a difficult book to read, but it was hard.... emotionally. Maybe more so because I'm a mother. I cried as Petey's mother, who had done everything she could for her son, put him on a train and into the State's care. I cried as Petey tried to reach out from his bodily prison, trying to show the people around him he wasn't really an "idiot". I rejoiced as he made small advances, and I wished with all my heart that he had been born in a different time where he could have gotten the help and therapy he needed. I read the book in a day and a half, my son asking my constantly, "How do you like it, Mom?"I have to say I enjoyed it immensely, and I'm so grateful for a good teacher who wants to teach her class compassion and looking at people's hearts....not just the outer shell.