This book gathers together an exchange of letters over the first year of placement of a particularly troubled child suffering from attachment disorder. The correspondence is between Lori Thomas, the foster/adoptive mother, and Michael Trout, Director of The Infant-Parent Institute in Illinois. Unbeknownst to the two parties, they were recording the story of the tortuously slow and unsteady opening up of the soul of a little boy. The Jonathon Letters was created in the hopes that these recorded experiences may help others who struggle to heal their child with attachment disorder. It is a tale of ups and downs, because that"s how it is with children whose beginnings have been so tortured. But the reader begins to get a sense of the driving energy of this unique family, who somehow bounce back after every regression, and find ways to understand Jonathon"s defiance and rage and to remain connected to their purpose - to help this child heal.