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| Cover art copyright 1999 by Steck-Vaughn |
Talking About Family
Breakup
By Jillian Powell
Raintree Steck-Vaughn
Austin, Texas, 1999
Reviewed by Laura Harting
Photographs provide the illustrations for this book written for
the elementary school age child. Powell uses
the text to provide answers to the most common questions this age group has
about divorce. With every page turn there is a new question, starting with
“What is a family?” Other, even bigger questions include “Why do families break up?” “Who can you talk to?” “How will things change?”
and “What is a stepfamily?”
Brief vignettes sprinkled throughout the book include Tom’s
parents shouting, Leah’s mother scolding her, and Holly living with her mom and
visiting her dad on weekends.
Published in 1999, this book is dated and the photographs
make that quite obvious. In addition,
some of the guidance may no longer apply. For example, the author writes “….you
will probably live with one parent.” Though this was more likely to be true in the 1980s and 90s, in my
practice today, more children split their time between two homes. Though I like how this book is arranged, with
the questions on each page to be answered, the dated photos and information
make it hard for me to recommend.
Laura Harting, LCSW, is a child and family therapist in Paoli, Pennsylvania.
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