I too was one of those chapter 8 students. I waited for what seemed like forever for this book to arrive, only to be greatly dissapointed. Like the other reader stated it was great for newsletter information, but managed to miss the true soul of the school. What I found in my amazing experience there was, yes other schools were not capable of dealing with us. The book makes our generation sound like rejects, when the truth is Glade valley strived to build it's student body with highly intelligent kids who were bored easily in regular schools or having difficult home lives that was affecting their studies. ( Did the author actually talk to a cross section of students who were there? Obviously not.) What I feel happened with this book is it missed a basic difference. A body is built of organs, bones, blood, and assorted other things, just like a school is made up of many parts. Until there is a life force, soul, spirit (call it what you will) the body is just a thing. The author missed the life force of this school and just goes on about the anatomy missing what truly made this school unique. She also missed the incredible bonding that has only been found in this school (to my personal knowledge). If you are looking for memories this book is not the place to find them. Although it is an excellent source to read about the inner workings and find out what really happened when the school shut down. It would have been a much better book had the author sought out students from many generations to get a real feel for the subject matter. It just reads like an outsider looking in.

I am one of the students from Chapter 8 'Final Years'. I did find the reading a little dry, a lot of satistics. But it was nice to read how the school was founded and grew. It is sad to see the school now ..abandon and empty. The concept of the school was like no other in my generation and GV gave me lessons and values that I will carry on in my life...

I take issue with the previous reviewers - I think this books speaks very well of the people and the area of Glade Valley School, especially those like Jim Little who were instrumental in constructing a community from little more than hills and rivers and a couple of horse trails in the early 1900s. This is a true account of how some of the last elements of American frontier spirit settled into part of God's country and carved more than just a living, more a way of life, in a land that can be harsh and giving all in a given day. The school embodied much of this spirit, and I believe Ms. Dickson's book reflects her own admiration of - and even magical fascination with - that spirit. If the readers who are actually alumni of Glade Valley can not see that, than perhaps their vision is clouded with the fact that they played a role in weakening the spirit that built the school in the first place.

Reading this book should remind anyone that a school is more than just a place we went in our formulative years to keep us out of trouble or give out parents a break, it is the beginning of the social contract, an opportunity for each of us to learn that we have to develop life-long skills and use those skills to build more institutions of learning, whether figurative or literal in modality. This is one of the benefits of such a narrative history; we get some of the secrets to building said skills without having to learn the lessons on our own.

Bravo!