Based on a true story, Some Way Home is the account of the handling and healing of Dylan, a prototypical foster child. He comes into this world a fairly anonymous character and is soon sent wandering through the government's child protection agencies in search of a home. He lacks a stable family to hold, care, or protect him; so early on, he is subjected to several, significant traumas of abuse and abandonment. He suffers but strives to emotionally survive until his mental health is challenged to the brink of psychosis. After Dylan's first short stay in foster care, he and his brother move in with their Aunt Patti, who wishes to adopt them. There, Dylan and Patti fall in love. Unfortunately, Patti is also living with her boyfriend, Bruce, who becomes the "bad daddy". Eventually, after various episodes of brutality and loss, Dylan is permanently removed from Patti and placed into the foster care system again. The story continues as Dylan's social worker, Adam McDonnell, tries to heal Dylan's hurt and place him into a safe environment. However, reality intervenes in the appearance of abnormal behaviors that surface when a child is isolated, beaten and confronted by true rejection. Distress and the will to survive generate the little boy's desire to earn some value in society. Even after a complete deterioration in a disastrous second placement, his third placement brings new hope when Dylan learns of love again. But this positive period rapidly slips away with an increase in Dylan's impulsive and destructive behaviors that define him as a severe management problem. A permanent placement, an adoptive home, is Dylan's only hope but opportunities look bleak due to the systemic inadequacies of agency work. But with luck and manipulation, Adam finds adoptive parents for Dylan. They are Jacob and Martha Ebonite. However, most of Dylan's history is not divulged to them due to Adam's fear that they may back out if they knew the challenges that accompany Dylan. The trials of another transition hit hard for both Dylan and his trusting, naive new parents. The book continues by describing the distress that they all experience while attempting to merge into a real family. This process takes long but the Ebonite's endure to become united with Dylan in a truly "forever family". Even though they experience both Dylan's victories and the reappearance of emotional scars at the different stages in his development, the family is united beyond external understanding or repercussions.Some Way Home spans from Dylan's birth to his fifteenth year and is told in two parts. The first part, from birth to five years old, depicts how Dylan barely survives the government's protective services and is narrated by Adam McDonnell, his social worker/case manager. Part two is told by Dylan's adoptive father, Jacob Ebonite. This is a passionate account of raising, loving, and trying to heal a severely injured child. It takes the reader through the highs of victory and the inevitable emotional devastation along the way. In the end, the reader is left with the hope of a mystifying victory obtained through enduring compassion.
About the Author: David J. Kenney is a noted speaker having presented to parent and professional groups at colleges, universities and educational in-services on topics such as healing trauma, stress management, anxiety reduction, helping children with attention deficits, behavior as language, general parenting and achieving success in our schools. In 1986, David graduated, magna cum laude, from the University of Detroit - Mercy with a bachelor's degree in psychology and again as a Specialist in School Psychology in 1989. He served as President of the Michigan Association of School Psychologists in 1997-98 and was liaison to the Michigan State Board of Education from 1995 to 1997. As an undergraduate student, David was invited to the 1985 National Fairweather conference to present a program he developed using creative writing with chronic, schizophrenic patients. This project was spotlighted in the Detroit Free Press on August 30, 1985. David has been a school psychologist for over twenty seven years in a diverse group of educational settings, from rich to poor, from one of the highest ranked school in the state to one with much less success. He has worked in urban, suburban and rural settings. In one of Michigan's top ranking school districts, he developed and implemented programs to meet the psych-social needs of parents, teachers and children. He acted as a general, mental health specialist, working to solve problems with teachers and families before special education was needed to formally certify them. But all achievements pale when compared to raising traumatized children to a healthy maturity. Children wounded by the world have been given little reason to trust it, so there were no guarantees of successful outcomes. Through his committed efforts, David learned strategies to heal harmed children. His expertise and insight has been noted by colleagues, who continue to seek him out for mentoring and training.