Teens Dealing with Death: Stories from My Students - Couverture souple

The background: In one school year, fifteen of my 8th grade students had lost a loved one to death, mostly parents. That alarming number was unprecedented.

This book is an up-close look at loss from the TEENS that have lived it, in their own words.

We have a difficult time with grieving in our culture. There is a push to return to "happy" as soon as possible. However, if grief doesn't have an appropriate outlet, feeling of aloneness and isolation can intensify. This is especially true for teens, who are too young for the harsh realities of life and unsure how to proceed when faced with them. Teens Dealing With Death can help.

Teens Dealing With Death is written by young people for young people. Their brave voices in this book and their teacher Susan Romero have taken a courageous step in sharing their eye-opening stories of death. These young people talk openly about the loss of their loved one to illness, substance abuse, murder, suicide, accidents and war. They discover that despite their separate circumstances, they are not alone in their pain.

They have taken the first step in healing: sharing their thoughts and feelings with us. They didn't sugar coat their stories, but rather laid out the bare truth. In doing so, we come to a better understanding of their experiences, confusion, loneliness, mixed emotions, and above all, their amazing resilience.

Teens Dealing With Death—Stories from My Students is perfect for a teen that will soon lose a loved one or one that is currently grieving, as well as parents that would like to help.

Susan Romero is an award-winning teacher with over two decades of middle school experience. She studied at San Diego State University in the School of Education and earned a Master’s Degree in Educational Administration at Cal Lutheran University. Passionate about counseling, she mentors children and teens through life’s trials and tribulations focusing on increasing self-esteem and creating self-love. She has an innate ability to help young people cope with and heal from loss. Her second book, What I Couldn’t Teach You in the Classroom, is coming in 2018. She resides in the beautiful coastal Carolina region.