The Wizard's Hall by Jane Yolen

The Wizard's Hall by Jane Yolen

A leading psychoanalyst shares his experiences working with schizophrenic patients to show how effective talk therapy can be as a treatment

Many schizophrenics experience their condition as one of radical incarceration, mind-altering medications, isolation, and dehumanization. At a time when the treatment of choice is anti-psychotic medication, world-renowned psychoanalyst Christopher Bollas asserts that schizophrenics can be helped by much more humane treatments, and that they have a chance to survive and even reverse the process if they have someone to talk to them regularly and for a sustained period, soon after their first breakdown.

In this sensitive and evocative narrative, he draws on his personal experiences working with schizophrenics since the 1960's. He offers his interpretation of how schizophrenia develops, typically in the teens, as an adaptation in the difficult transition to adulthood.

With tenderness, Bollas depicts schizophrenia as an understandable way of responding to our precariousness in a highly unpredictable world. He celebrates the courage of the children he has worked with and reminds us that the wisdom inherent in human beings--to turn to conversation with others when in distress--is the fundamental foundation of any cure for human conflict.

Born and raised in New York City, Jane Yolen now lives in Hatfield, Massachusetts. She attended Smith College and received her master's degree in education from the University of Massachusetts. The distinguished author of more than 170 books, Jane Yolen is a person of many talents. When she is not writing, Yolen composes songs, is a professional storyteller on the stage, and is the busy wife of a university professor, the mother of three grown children, and a grandmother.

Active in several organizations, Yolen has been on the Board of Directors of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, was president of the Science Fiction Writers of America from 1986 to 1988, is on the editorial board of several magazines, and was a founding member of the Western New England Storytellers Guild, the Western Massachusetts Illustrators Guild, and the Bay State Writers Guild. For twenty years, she ran a monthly writer's workshop for new children's book authors. In 1980, when Yolen was awarded an honorary Doctor of Law degree by Our Lady of the Elms College in Chicopee, Massachusetts, the citation recognized that throughout her writing career she has remained true to her primary source of inspiration--folk culture. Folklore is the perfect second skin, writes Yolen. From under its hide, we can see all the shimmering, shadowy uncertainties of the world. Folklore, she believes, is the universal human language, a language that children instinctively feel in their hearts.

All of Yolen's stories and poems are somehow rooted in her sense of family and self. The Emperor and the Kite, which was a Caldecott Honor Book in 1983 for its intricate papercut illustrations by Ed Young, was based on Yolen's relationship with her late father, who was an international kite-flying champion. Owl Moon, winner of the 1988 Caldecott Medal for John Schoenherr's exquisite watercolors, was inspired by her husband's interest in birding.

Yolen's graceful rhythms and outrageous rhymes have been gathered in numerous collections. She has earned many awards over the years: the Regina Medal, the Kerlan Award, the World Fantasy Award, the Society of Children's Book Writers Award, the Mythopoetic Society's Aslan Award, the Christopher Medal, the Boy's Club Jr. Book Award, the Garden State Children's Book Award, the Daedalus Award, a number of Parents' Choice Magazine Awards, and many more. Her books and stories have been translated into Japanese, French, Spanish, Chinese, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Afrikaans, !Xhosa, Portuguese, and Braille.

With a versatility that has led her to be called America's Hans Christian Andersen, Yolen, the child of two writers, is a gifted and natural storyteller. Perhaps the best explanation for her outstanding accomplishments comes from Jane Yolen herself: I don't care whether the story is real or fantastical. I tell the story that needs to be told.

copyright ? 2000 by Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers. All rights reserved.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780152020859
ISBN 10	0152020853
Title	The Wizard's Hall
Author	Jane Yolen
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Cengage Learning EMEA
Year published	1999-01-01
Number of pages	144
Prizes	Short-listed for Black-Eyed Susan Award (Grades 4-6) 1992
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable