The Very Worst Thing
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The Very Worst Thing
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Narrated by:
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Andy Paris
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By:
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Torey Hayden
About this listen
Number one on David's list of The Very Worst Things is nothing. To him it means not belonging anywhere. It means not owning a single toy.
Living in foster homes for the last six years, David now has trouble making friends and keeping up in school. More than anything in the world, he just wants something to call his own. He thinks he's found that something when he hatches an owl named King Arthur with the help of his "girl genius" friend, Mab. But when it looks like King Arthur must be set free, David learns a powerful lesson. The real "good stuff" in life isn't something he can own.
Like the friends in The Very Worst Thing, Torey Hayden once hatched and raised a short-eared owl. This is her first novel for young listeners, though she has also written best-selling adult books.
©2003 Torey Hayden (P)2003 Recorded Books, LLCListeners also enjoyed...
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A light in the darkness for severely troubled children, former special education teacher Torey Hayden faced three of her most extraordinary challenges after she left the classroom. Nine-year-old Cassandra, kidnapped by her father and found starving, dirty, and picking through garbage cans - a child prone to long silences and erratic, violent behavior, whose hard-won recollections of the nightmare she endured could not be fully trusted.
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His name was Kevin but his keepers called him Zoo Boy. He didn't talk. He hid under tables and surrounded himself with a cage of chairs. He hadn't been out of the building in the four years since he'd come in. He was afraid of water and wouldn't take a shower. He was afraid to be naked, to change his clothes. He was nearly 16. Desperate to see change in the boy, the staff of Kevin's adolescent treatment center hired Hayden. As Hayden read to him and encouraged him to read, crawling down into his cage of chairs with him, Kevin talked.
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5 out of 5 stars
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want to meet Kevin
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Lost Child
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 85
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 78
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In a forgotten corner of Wales, a young girl languishes in a home for troubled children. Abandoned by her parents because of her violent streak, Jessie - at the age of 10 - is at risk of becoming just another lost soul in the foster system. Precocious and bold, Jessie is convinced she is possessed by the devil and utterly unprepared for the arrival of therapist Torey Hayden. Armed with patience, compassion, and unconditional love, Hayden begins working with Jessie once a week. Then, Jessie makes a stunning accusation against one of Hayden’s colleagues.
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Overheard in a Dream
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 45
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Story4 out of 5 stars 46
Bestselling author Torey Hayden's novel is a fascinating study of a fractured family, a troubled child, and a psychiatrist's attempts to rescue them. Conor, aged nine, arrives in the play therapy room of child psychiatrist James Innes with the diagnosis "autistic". His mother Laura, an aloof, enigmatic novelist, can't handle him. His rancher father, embroiled in divorcing Laura, does not feel there is anything wrong with Conor. His six-year-old sister Morgana insists he really does see ghosts.
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 179
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 157
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 156
Jadie never spoke. She never laughed, or cried, or uttered any sound. Despite efforts to reach her, Jadie remained locked in her own troubled world - until one remarkable teacher persuaded her to break her self-imposed silence. Nothing in all of Torey Hayden's experience could have prepared her for the shock of what Jadie told her - a story too horrendous for Torey's professional colleagues to acknowledge.
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5 out of 5 stars
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BEST BOOK
- By Cherish on 09-27-15
By: Torey Hayden
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Twilight Children
- Three Voices No One Heard Until a Therapist Listened
- By: Torey Hayden
- Narrated by: Jorjeana Marie
- Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 92
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 79
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 77
A light in the darkness for severely troubled children, former special education teacher Torey Hayden faced three of her most extraordinary challenges after she left the classroom. Nine-year-old Cassandra, kidnapped by her father and found starving, dirty, and picking through garbage cans - a child prone to long silences and erratic, violent behavior, whose hard-won recollections of the nightmare she endured could not be fully trusted.
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5 out of 5 stars
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loved it.
- By Lace M. Jackson on 06-23-17
By: Torey Hayden
-
Just Another Kid
- By: Torey Hayden
- Narrated by: Tara Ochs
- Length: 15 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 95
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 85
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 84
A dramatic and remarkable narrative of an extraordinary teacher's determination, from the author of the Sunday Times bestsellers The Tiger's Child and One Child. Torey Hayden faced six emotionally troubled kids no other teacher could handle - three recent arrivals from battle-torn Northern Ireland, badly traumatized by the horrors of war; an eleven-year-old boy, who only knew life inside an institution; an excitable girl, aggressive and sexually precocious at the age of eight; and seven-year-old Leslie, perhaps the most hopeless of all, unresponsive and unable to speak.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Usual Torey story
- By Lorna on 02-22-14
By: Torey Hayden
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Murphy's Boy
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- Narrated by: Loretta Rawlins
- Length: 12 hrs
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 74
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 64
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 65
His name was Kevin but his keepers called him Zoo Boy. He didn't talk. He hid under tables and surrounded himself with a cage of chairs. He hadn't been out of the building in the four years since he'd come in. He was afraid of water and wouldn't take a shower. He was afraid to be naked, to change his clothes. He was nearly 16. Desperate to see change in the boy, the staff of Kevin's adolescent treatment center hired Hayden. As Hayden read to him and encouraged him to read, crawling down into his cage of chairs with him, Kevin talked.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
want to meet Kevin
- By Cherish on 10-14-15
By: Torey Hayden
-
Lost Child
- The True Story of a Girl Who Couldn't Ask for Help
- By: Torey Hayden
- Narrated by: Lucy Rayner
- Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 85
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 78
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 76
In a forgotten corner of Wales, a young girl languishes in a home for troubled children. Abandoned by her parents because of her violent streak, Jessie - at the age of 10 - is at risk of becoming just another lost soul in the foster system. Precocious and bold, Jessie is convinced she is possessed by the devil and utterly unprepared for the arrival of therapist Torey Hayden. Armed with patience, compassion, and unconditional love, Hayden begins working with Jessie once a week. Then, Jessie makes a stunning accusation against one of Hayden’s colleagues.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Mixed
- By Pink Amy on 09-17-21
By: Torey Hayden
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Overheard in a Dream
- A Novel
- By: Torey Hayden
- Narrated by: Jean Alexander
- Length: 14 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 51
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 45
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 46
Bestselling author Torey Hayden's novel is a fascinating study of a fractured family, a troubled child, and a psychiatrist's attempts to rescue them. Conor, aged nine, arrives in the play therapy room of child psychiatrist James Innes with the diagnosis "autistic". His mother Laura, an aloof, enigmatic novelist, can't handle him. His rancher father, embroiled in divorcing Laura, does not feel there is anything wrong with Conor. His six-year-old sister Morgana insists he really does see ghosts.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Amazing story!
- By Terri Hart on 06-08-15
By: Torey Hayden
-
Ghost Girl
- The True Story of a Child in Peril and the Teacher Who Saved Her
- By: Torey Hayden
- Narrated by: Suehyla El'Attar
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 179
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 157
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 156
Jadie never spoke. She never laughed, or cried, or uttered any sound. Despite efforts to reach her, Jadie remained locked in her own troubled world - until one remarkable teacher persuaded her to break her self-imposed silence. Nothing in all of Torey Hayden's experience could have prepared her for the shock of what Jadie told her - a story too horrendous for Torey's professional colleagues to acknowledge.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
BEST BOOK
- By Cherish on 09-27-15
By: Torey Hayden
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What listeners say about The Very Worst Thing
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Lace M. Jackson
- 02-16-20
Listening
Loved the book. It really made me think of my own life. I love Tory books.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- SEE
- 07-30-24
Authentic Friendship & Character Developments
Loved this children’s book. TH insightful descriptions on a child in foster care & his development brings hope to the Hayden thousand piece puzzle of the universe:-) the better we can understand the development of the human mind, the better we can treat it…
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