Quibbles aside, a sensitive approach to a difficult subject.
Funeral and mourning customs from many cultures and religious traditions, scientific explanations of death, and ways to think about personal grief.
Incorporating color photos, watercolor illustrations and spot art, sidebars, and legends in a layout that is sometimes too busy, this book reaches far into the past with information about burial rites in Egypt and Greece and then comes right up to the present with material about green burials and physician-assisted death. The chapter on grief posits that imagining emotions moving around a figure 8, on which “the more positive feelings are on the top part and the darker feelings are on the bottom part,” may be a more useful way for young people to grieve than the often cited Kübler-Ross model, which is linear in scope. There is advice about seeking out help from “a parent, a teacher, a counselor, or another caring adult” if young people find themselves “stuck in the bottom of the 8.” Occasionally, the book errs a bit. A double-page feature on limbo discusses ghosts, zombies, and other “undead beings” and is silent on the only recently discarded Catholic concept, for instance, and a discussion of funeral colors is accompanied by striking arrays of multicolored Mexican skulls, unmentioned there or even in the short caption for a photo of Day of the Dead customs two pages later.
Quibbles aside, a sensitive approach to a difficult subject. (resources, glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 11-14)Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4598-1388-5
Page Count: 88
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Potentially useful insights for youngsters encountering loss.
Advice on coping with loss, from the death of a family member or a close friend to a beloved pet’s demise to life-changing events such as divorce.
Imperi, a chaplain and thanatologist (“someone who knows about death, dying, grief and loss”), uses her own terminology to distinguish between “deathloss” (“when a person or an animal we love dies”) and “shadowloss” (“the death of something, not someone”). These categories make sense, but kids grieving the death of a loved one may find it difficult to wade through sections about other serious problems. Although the recent pandemic caused many actual deaths, this book describes Covid as a shadowloss, a disrupter of normal life. Imperi mentions a few religious traditions, but the book is primarily concerned with practical ideas and individual experiences. Specific thinking, writing, and creative exercises for moving through the grief process are included. She spotlights five diverse teens, along with their coping strategies for different types of loss; they appear to be composite portraits rather than real individuals. The black-and-white line illustrations and charts throughout will appeal to some, but the boxed affirmations on many pages may feel repetitive to others; the work overall feels a bit like an expanded magazine article. Still, patient readers will likely find guidance—and reassurance.
Potentially useful insights for youngsters encountering loss. (grief journal, glossary, note for caregivers, resources, references, index) (Nonfiction. 11-14)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781525309656
Page Count: 200
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2024
As in their previous collaborations (Colors of Freedom, Voices of Rape, not reviewed), Bode and Mack portray an issue through the voices of children and adults affected by it. Bode (recently deceased) interviewed preteens, their parents, and adult experts, and organized their responses into parts "For Girls and Boys" and "For Parents." In sections with titles like "Public Recognition" or "What's in Your Heart," her text, addressed directly to the reader, synthesizes many of the responses in a way that should comfort and challenge young and adult readers. At least half of the book is comprised of responses she gathered from her survey, some of which are illustrated in strips by Mack. The result is an engagingly designed book, with questions and topics in bold type so that readers can browse for the recognition they may be looking for. They will need to browse, as there is no index, and young readers will certainly be tempted by the "For Parents" section, and vice versa. A bibliography (with two Spanish titles) and list of Web resources (with mostly live links) will help them seek out more information. They may well have other questions—especially having to do with parents' sexuality—which they don't find answered here, but this is a fine and encouraging place to start. (print and on-line resources) (Non-fiction. 9-13)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-81945-5
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
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