The Divorce Helpbook for Kids (Rebuilding Books; For Divorce and Beyond) [Paperback]

Cynthia MacGregor (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up | Series: Rebuilding Books; For Divorce and Beyond

It's in the news every day: divorce is tough on kids. MacGregor knows how tough, and she has prepared a down-to-earth guide that genuinely helps. Included are discussions about many topics troubling kids when their parents divorce: reasons parents get divorced; ways the divorce will change kids' lives; kids' feelings about divorce; things kids can do to help them feel better; who to talk to; what's likely to happen next.

This is not just a book for kids about divorce, though. It's a book about life after divorce, too. The kids in MacGregor's book are dealing with visitation and custody and straddling two households and making it all work. Maybe it isn't easy, but it is possible and it is necessary.

Written in a reader-friendly, warm, down-to-earth style for children whose parents are divorcing, THE DIVORCE HELPBOOK FOR KIDS will also be useful for: divorcing parents who want to help kids understand; grandparents of divorced children; child and family therapists.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grades 4-8--MacGregor introduces herself as a divorced mom with the suggestion that her experience makes this book more meaningful to her readers. She attempts to talk directly to them and to be comforting and nonthreatening. However, there are certain underlying assumptions that detract from her effectiveness. She begins with two stereotypical examples: a girl who has a terrible day at school later experiences all the comforts that home can provide because her parents are not divorced. The second example is of a boy who has had a great day at school but comes home to an empty house, missing his dad's possessions as well as his physical presence. There are few discussions of the child who has moved from the house or the neighborhood. There are more positive statements about women than about men; in discussing the conflicts between parents the author mentions a father's lack of paying alimony three times and that follows shortly thereafter with the affirmation that a mother is not disloyal if she dates other men. The strengths of the book are the various alternatives suggested to conflicts that arise and the suggestions that readers take questions to parents or other close, responsible adults.
Edith Ching, St. Albans School, Mt. St. Alban, Washington, DC
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From the Publisher

Books in the Rebuilding Books series "for divorce and beyond" are written for those going through divorce or rebuilding their lives after divorce. Inspired by the work of renowned divorce therapist, Dr. Bruce Fisher, the Rebuilding Books offer expert information and practical self-help procedures. These straightforward, life-affirming resources can help make the divorce process easier, healthier, and less painful for adults and children, leading to more-fulfilled lives and stronger "second-time" relationships.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Impact Publishers (June 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1886230390
• ISBN-13: 978-1886230392
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #357,812 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Born in the suburbs of New York, I moved to the city itself as soon as I was old enough to go out on my own, eventually transplanting myself to South Florida. A part of me had always felt I belonged where the warm tropical breezes shake the palm fronds into beckoning motions. They beckoned, and in 1984 I answered, leaving my beloved NY behind. I've since put down roots a mile long.

I have been writing for as long as I can remember - from back when I first learned to spell t-h-e c-a-t. By age 9, I had written a play (admittedly short and childish, but a play nonetheless), which was put on at summer camp, and there were stories and poems too, some of which were printed in such places as the newsletter of the arts program I took part in, and the local weekly paper in the community where I grew up.

My earliest serious aspiration was to be an actress, and I'm still a ham who loves the limelight, but I traded in my theatrical dreams for the writing life decades ago and have no regrets whatsoever.

I am definitely a glass-half-full person, and there is no one in the world I'd want to trade lives with. My life hasn't always been easy - I'm a cancer survivor and have had additional health issues too, as well as other adversities - but it's been a marvelous ride so far, and I hope it just keeps going and going and going. I jump out of bed each morning (normally at 5 AM), eager to start a new day.

My past includes stints as a theatre reviewer and specialty-newspaper publisher, a lot of freelance editing, and a bit of agenting. My first book wasn't published till 1993, but I've made up for the late start and have had over 50 conventional books and another over-50 ebooks published in the time since then, and I'm still going strong. I have NO plan to EVER retire. I absolutely LOVE what I do. Why would I ever want to stop?

My wish for each of you who reads this is that you find your life as fun and as fulfilling as I do.