The Hartley Sentinel-The Everly/Royal News - Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties

"All the Kids On My Block" was so good the first time, author Dave Hoye decided to print it twice.

"When it sold out, I had a lot of requests for it," he said. "It's more about the kids than it is me and telling their stories and situations."

The book, which details and shares lessons from Hoye's 35-year counseling career, was first printed 10 years ago. This time around the Everly man has added three new chapters and included study guides after each chapter.

"This way I hope to be able to sell it to colleges for them to be able to use in their classes," he said. "It makes it a little more academic."

Hoye's path to become a counselor was somewhat winding. He originally worked for the railroad, but jumped careers and joined Lutheran Social Services.

He worked for the church for 10 years before moving over to schools as a counselor. He served a variety of northwest Iowa schools at the AEA, which he enjoyed.

"I was able to do a lot of work that maybe didn't seem like counseling, but it was," he said. "I was more able to work with the families and the teachers, and help them understand some of the changes they needed to make to help the kids work through the disabilities that they had."

Hoye noted the difficulty of counseling work – each student is different with different needs. Over time, he grew to understand that building relationships and trust is key to improving an individual's situation.

"By being able to work with the families and gain the trust of the teachers, I was able to get a lot of things done for the schools and for the kids," he said.

Hoye still runs into students he helped in the past, which always brightens his day.

"They always recognize me, and it's always special to talk to them and see how they're doing," he said. "Things like that make all those years worthwhile."

Hoye is an avid writer and has published several books in the past. The second edition of "All the Kids On My Block" is available for purchase on http://www.westbowpress.com.

"I hope people who read this get a better understanding of some of the disabilities that kids have, and an understanding that just because they have a disability doesn't mean they can't function or learn well," Hoye said. "I learned more from the kids than they did me. It was a wonderful experience working with them every day."