Special Reading Lists

Few topics are so difficult to discuss with children than the reality of a divorce, and yet more children face this problem than any other. Finding the right words to explain the changes in their world can never be easy, but the simple fact is the majority (over 50%) of children in the United States come from a family with at least one divorced parent. The books listed here can help both children and parents cope with this difficult situation. Please bear in mind that no one book can be suitable for every child. The parent is strongly urged to preview the selections available and choose those books which best reflect their family values and beliefs.

Picture books for the younger child:

Ballard	*Gracie*
Baum	*One More Time*
Boyd	*The Not-so-Wicked Stepmother*
Boyd	*Sam is My Half Brother*
Caines	*Daddy*
Caseley	*Priscilla Twice*
Christiansen	*My Mother’s House, My Father’s House*
Dragonwagon	*Always, Always*
Dragonwagon	*Diana, Maybe*
Girard	*At Daddy’s on Saturdays*
Goff	*Where is Daddy? The Story of a Divorce*
Hogan	*Will Dad Ever Move Back Home?*
Kjelle	*Sometimes I Wish My Mom Was Two People*
Leach	*My Wicked Stepmother*
Lexau	*Me Day*
Petty	*Splitting Up*
Schuchman	*Two Places to Sleep*
Simon	*I Wish I Had My Father*
Steel	*Martha’s New Daddy*
Stinson	*Mom & Dad Don’t Live Together Anymore*
Vigna	*Grandma Without Me*
Vigna	*Mommy & Me By Ourselves Again*
Vigna	*She’s Not My Real Mother*
Zolotow	*A Father Like That*

Fiction for the younger reader:

Adler	*The Silver Coach*
Adler	*Tuna Fish Thanksgiving*
Aiello	*On With the Show: Featuring Brenda Dubrowski*
Berger	*Nuisance*
Blume	*It’s Not the End of the World*
Buehler	*There’s No Surf In Cleveland*
Christopher	*The Comeback Challenge*
Christopher	*The Fox Steals Home*
Cleary	*Dear Mr. Henshaw*
Cleary	*Strider*
Clewes	*Missing From Home*
Danziger	*The Amber Brown Series*
Fine	*Alias Madame Doubtfire*
Fine	*Step by Wicked Step*
Fisher	*Rachel Vellars, How Could You?*
Fitzhugh	*Sport*
Greene	*Ask Anybody*
Hamm	*Second Family*
Harris	*With a Wave of the Wand*
Hest	*Where in the World is the Perfect Family?*
Hines	*Boys are Yucko!*
Hurwitz	*DeDe Takes Charge!*
Jones	*A Cat Called Camouflage*
Levine	*The Great Burgerland Disaster*
Lisle	*The Gold Dust Letters*
Mann	*My Dad Lives in a Downtown Hotel*
McEwan	*Operation Garbage: A Josh McIntire Book*
Moore	*Something to Count On*
Newfield	*A Book for Jordan*
Orenstein	*When the Wind Blows Hard*
Orlev	*Lydia, Queen of Palestine*
Park	*Don’t Make Me Smile*
Pevsner	*A Smart Kid Like You*
Pfeffer	*Dear Dad, Love Laurie*
Platt	*Chloris & the Freaks*
Platt	*Chloris & the Weirdos*
Rogers	*Morris & His Brave Lion*
Roy	*Avalanche!*
Sachs	*Shyster*
Sachs	*At the Sound of the Beep*
Slote	*Matt Gargan’s Boy*
Williams	*Scooter*
Willner-Pardo	*Jason & the Losers*

Fiction for the older child:

Angell	*What’s Best For You*
Cole	*Celine*
Conrad	*Holding Me Here*
Crawford	*Split Time*
Danziger	*The Divorce Express*
Danziger	*It’s an Aardvark-Eat-Turtle World*
Haven	*Maybe I’ll Move to the Lost & Found*
Jones	*Whistle Down a Dark Lane*
Kropp	*Moonkid & Liberty*
Lehrman	*Separations*
Levinson	*A Place to Start*
Mazer	*E, My Name is Emily*
Mazer	*Taking Terri Mueller*
Paulsen	*Hatchet*
Peck	*Unfinished Portrait of Jessica*
Pfeffer	*Make Believe*
Pfeffer	*The Pizza Puzzle*
Pfeffer	*Starting With Melodie*
Sachs	*Another Day*
Schnur	*The Koufax Dilemma*
Shalant	*The Great Eye*
Southgate	*Another Way to Dance*
Talbert	*Pillow of Clouds*
VanLeeuwen	*Blue Sky, Butterfly*
Voigt	*A Solitary Blue*
Wilson	*The Reason for Janey*
Young	*Moving Mama to Town*

Non-fiction for the older child:

Boeckman	*Surviving Your Parent’s Divorce*
LeShan	*What’s Going to Happen to Me? When Parents Separate or Divorce*
Krementz	*How It Feels When Parents Divorce*

For the Parent:

Brown	*Dinosaurs Divorce: A Guide For Changing Families*
Diamond	*Helping Children of Divorce: A Handbook for Parents & Teachers*
Gardner	*The Boys & Girls Book About Divorce, with an Introduction for Parents*
Gardner	*The Boys & Girls Book about One-Parent Families*
Grollman	*Talking About Divorce: a Dialogue Between Parent & Child*
Ives	*The Divorce Workbook: A Guide for Kids & Families*
Lindsay	*Do I Have a Daddy? A Story about a Single-Parent Child*
Mayle	*Why Are We Getting a Divorce?*
Nystrom	*Mike’s Lonely Summer: A Child’s Guide Through Divorce*
Prestine	*Helping Children Cope With Divorce: A Practical Resource Guide for Mom & Dad Break Up (book follows)*
Prestine	*Mom & Dad Break Up*
Prokop	*Divorce Happens to the Nicest Kids: A Self-Help Book for Children ages 3-15, Parents & Counselors*
Watson	*Sometimes a Family Has to Split Up*
Weitzman	*Let’s Talk About Living with a Single Parent*
Weitzman	*Let’s Talk About Your Parents’ Divorce*

Expect the best from your kids … and you’ll get it!

Special Reading Lists Divorce