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A review by sarahhyatt
January First: A Child's Descent into Madness and Her Father's Struggle to Save Her by Michael Schofield
1.0
I read this book in one sitting, because it was fascinating, but it wasn't really enjoyable. I was struck by a few things: first, that way the father describes Jani's behavior is familiar. I've known a handful of children who acted exactly like Jani - I don't say this to normalize it, because nothing about these children's behavior was normal. I also don't say it to indicate that Jani isn't schizophrenic, or that on the other hand, these children were. But the violence, the hitting, the lack of remorse, the "switch" where something that seems like not the child, the apparently genuine confusion about "what did I do?" - I have known children like this. Maybe I'm jaded, but I expected more from "the worst case doctors had ever seen."
With those children, it was 8 out of 12 in a small suburban daycare classroom. Two-thirds. (Yes, those are high numbers. Yes, that's ridiculous). I don't believe all those children (if any) had schizophrenia. They may have had a handful of behavioral disorders mixed with inconsistent parenting.
This book, similarly, leads more to the side of awful parenting. Something is NOT RIGHT here. And would somebody just send me Honey? Honey, you want to live life as a dog should? Come over. You're welcome. I will love you.
Reading this book was less about discovering what Jani's life and world was like and more about watching the bad life choices made by her father. It made it difficult to have sympathy, because he continued to act heinously throughout the book, and described this honestly but with no apparent remorse. It was an adventure in bad dog ownership, bad teaching, bad parenting, and marriage problems. To the point where these problems and issues eclipsed anything that was going on with Jani. There is something not quite right in the parents that stands out as needing help and intervention more than anything Jani does in this book.
With those children, it was 8 out of 12 in a small suburban daycare classroom. Two-thirds. (Yes, those are high numbers. Yes, that's ridiculous). I don't believe all those children (if any) had schizophrenia. They may have had a handful of behavioral disorders mixed with inconsistent parenting.
This book, similarly, leads more to the side of awful parenting. Something is NOT RIGHT here. And would somebody just send me Honey? Honey, you want to live life as a dog should? Come over. You're welcome. I will love you.
Reading this book was less about discovering what Jani's life and world was like and more about watching the bad life choices made by her father. It made it difficult to have sympathy, because he continued to act heinously throughout the book, and described this honestly but with no apparent remorse. It was an adventure in bad dog ownership, bad teaching, bad parenting, and marriage problems. To the point where these problems and issues eclipsed anything that was going on with Jani. There is something not quite right in the parents that stands out as needing help and intervention more than anything Jani does in this book.