Written by a recipient of a MacArthur award, gained for her pioneering work on the storytelling technique and its use in the classroom, this book focuses on the challenge posed by the isolated child to teachers and classmates alike in the community of the classroom. It is the story of Jason - the loner and outsider - and his ultimate triumph and homecoming into the society of his classmates. As the reader follows Jason's struggle, it can be seen how the classroom is a crucible within which the young discover themselves and learn to confront new problems in their daily experience. The book is an essay on the practice of teaching young children and the author uses children's stories as a vehicle of instruction.