Families

It's been a busy few months, I earned my Masters degree in Library Science and have been concentrating on my family, but I have read a few books along the way. Here are a few about families with problems.

Werlin, Nancy. Rules of survival. 2006.
Matt and Callie protect Emmy as much as they possibly from the ranting and raving of Nikki, who has been a constant presence in their lives. Unfortunately, the few people who might be able to help them come into their lives for an indeterminate amount of time or don’t seem to have the courage to help this teen brother and sister keep their youngest sister safe from the psychological abuse they endure from the one person who is supposed to protect them; their mother. Read how Matt, Callie and Emmy grow up with a mother who they fear and love.

Lester, Julius. When dad killed mom. 2003.
Is there any way to still love your dad after he has killed your mom? Jenna and Jeremy’s mom is a great mom, an artist and was just murdered on the street by their father, a psychologist at the local college. The turmoil and grief they endure during the ensuing days and months of the murder highlight Jenna’s and Jeremy’s loss not only of their mother but also their father, their home and their way of life. Though their lives will never be the same, their lives will go on and how they live their lives and what kind of person they each become will stem from how they go on with their lives in the aftermath of their mother’s murder.

MacCullough, Carolyn. Stealing Henry. 2005.
Savannah lives with her once nomadic mom, Alice; Jake, her stepdad; and Henry, her 8-year-old half brother. That is until Savannah hits her stepfather in the head with a frying pan, grabs her brother and heads for her mother’s hometown. Savannah’s mother, Alice, was a bored teenager in a small town when she falls for a stranger, becomes pregnant and leaves her small town for something better. A decade of wandering in search of something better ends when she meets Jake. Savannah wants her nomadic mom back, the free spirit and friend of her youth so she embarks on a trip back to her mom’s youth in the hopes that going back home will also mean going back to the way it was. Read Stealing Henry to find out if Savannah gets her mom back as a friend, as a responsible adult or not at all.