"Loss may take many forms…but
with loss comes opportunity for reevaluation, change and growth".  This is
a book written for young readers, providing a forum to address the issues of
grief and loss. A collection of 12 stories resonating with humor, both "touching
and uplifting", as well as sad, carries the reader through the challenges
young people struggle with on a regular basis, in dealing with the loss of
those people, places and things, most important to their world.

Extraordinary presentations of the
most common of events, marks this book as a must read for both adolescents and
adults alike. The simplicity of the storytelling leaves the reader experiencing
a depth of feelings as varied as the stories. Each storyteller weaves a
message, explaining the process of loss. The creativeness, in which the writers’
pull from their own personal life experiences, validates both the quality of
the story and the reader that may have a personal connection to the events of
the story.  

AVI in "A Note From the Author"
addresses an important issue that becomes a pivotal point for many, based on
how "loss" is defined and interpreted.  Does it mean, "something
is missing" and needs to be "replaced"?  Is it simply a natural
process of "change", therefore, we are all subject to the same
process? If this were the case, then why are there so many "different"
responses to the same issue?

Knowing that there are some issues
(loss, being one) that go beyond the boundaries of age, gender educational and
social/economical status, can sometimes make all the difference in the world to
someone feeling isolated and alone. This book teaches us how to connect, and
for some, reconnect with the act of living by allowing ourselves to feel the
person(s), place(s) and/or thing(s) we have lost our connectedness to.

I would personally and
professionally recommend this book to all audiences. The stories are thought
provoking, emotionally healing and delightfully refreshing. This material has
the potential to reach many young readers through its non-threatening, non-evasive
approach to a very difficult subject.  It invites the reader to examine his or
her own life experiences vicariously through the words of others, while
empowering the reader to draw his or her own conclusions, on how to relate to
the stories.

© 2004 Susan Wingate

Susan Wingate is currently working
for the Department of Corrections of North Carolina in the capacity of Program
Supervisor for Substance Abuse Treatment, in a maximum security prison for
women.

Categories: Grief, Children, ChildhoodDisorders