Casey's Wall

About the Book

Growing up in 1970s Wisconsin, Carolyn Hermann dreams of becoming a special-education teacher. But she has no idea how demanding her chosen vocation will be until she begins her first job: teaching autistic children in Midlands, South Carolina.

Carolyn's class contains five high-functioning little boys, one of whom, Casey Ross, captures her imagination. Convinced that he is emotionally disturbed rather than autistic-partly because she believes his mother is remote and uncaring-Carolyn fantasizes about curing Casey even though her program director supports the diagnosis of autism.

The following year Carolyn is assigned to teach a class of severely disabled students. Dealing with them is an enormous challenge, and she misses Casey. Burned out after two difficult years, Carolyn leaves teaching to become a homemaker and mother. Yet, despite the fulfillment she finds in this role, she feels like a failure for abandoning her students.

Many years later Carolyn has returned to teaching and attends a convention where she encounters Casey's mother, now a disability-rights attorney. The two women reconnect and find that they have a great deal in common.

And finally, their reunion provides the answer to a question that's haunted Carolyn for decades: Whatever happened to Casey Ross?

About the Author

A California-born graduate of Sonoma State University, Linda Rich is a Midwesterner by adoption. She has enjoyed a varied career, currently in banking. Whatever her day job, though, Linda?s avocation has always been storytelling. She and her husband, Lyndon, reside in Normal, Illinois. They have two children and three grandchildren.