Bart, Or, It Didn't Really Hurt that Bad

Book excerpt: This book is about a boy who was tied, naked, to the end of his bed and beaten by his stepmother. It is about a girl who didn't want to do anything but wait until she was 16 so that she could leave school, get married, and have children. It is about a boy who sexually abused his little sister, and then had to go back to school and be a normal student. It is about kids who don't fit in because they are hyperactive, distractible, or aggressive; kids who are apathetic, depressed, or resistive; "funny-looking" kids who are different, eccentric, or weird. Bart is the school psychologist whose responsibility it is to evaluate those students in order to better understand why they don't fit the "normal" mold. In order to do that, he needs to be educated in several different areas, he has to be skillful, and above all, he has to be empathetic. But it is also essential for him to deal with the realities of the culture and society in which he works. Is it the kids who are hurting who need to be evaluated, or is it the "system" that is hurting and is in need of change? Or is it Bart?