Straight Talk about Death for Teenagers: How to Cope with Losing Someone You Love

by Earl A. Grollman

Overview

If you are a teenager whose friend or relative has died, this book was written for you. Earl A. Grollman, the award-winning author of Living When a Loved One Has Died, explains what to expect when you lose someone you love.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807095706
Publisher:	Beacon Press
Publication date:	02/18/2014
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	164
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Dr. Earl A. Grollman a pioneer in the field of crisis intervention, was rabbi of the Beth El Temple Center in Belmont, Massachusetts, for thirty-six years. A certified death educator and counselor, he was cited as "Hero of The Heartland" for his work with the families and volunteers of the Oklahoma City bombing. Dr. Grollman has spoken at many colleges, clergy institutes, seminaries, physicians' forums, and hospital nursing associations, and has addressed many support groups, such as Compassionate Friends, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and Widows Personal Services. He has also appeared on national television and radio, including The Oprah Winfrey Show, Children's Journal, All Things Considered, and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Recently, he was featured on National Public Radio's End of Life series in the roundtable discussion on grief and bereavement.

Editorial Reviews

With brief entries such as "Accidental Death," "Self-Inflicted Death," "Talking," "Crying," and "Going Nuts," Grollman offers advice and answers the kinds of questions that teens are likely to ask themselves when grieving the death of someone close. Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal

A frequent contributor to "USA Today", Grollman is also a prolific author of books designed to help people cope with personal trauma. Here, he validates the painful feelings teenagers experience following the death of a loved one, conveying a sense of the grieving as well as the importance of getting on with life. Although he does approach his subject from an unusual angle now and again (for example, he touches briefly on how the circumstances of a person's death--accident, suicide, AIDS, etc.--color the survivors' feelings), Grollman generally steers clear of deep discussion and personal testimony. That's the strength of his book and also what sets it apart from books such as Krementz's "How It Feels When a Parent Dies" (1981) and Gravelle and Haskins' "Teenagers Face to Face with Bereavement" (1983). Grollman puts his message right up front, delivering it via short bursts of text set out on pages that are left partially blank. While the text itself occasionally verges on the melodramatic ("You feel a dull ache. You are so alone"), the author's sincerity still comes across, and the unusual format makes his supportive remarks very easy to absorb. Grieving kids who find intense explorations of death simply too painful to manage may find that this book, which concludes with an 11-page write-in section, delivers the comfort they seek in manageable terms.

Stephanie Zvirin

'I thank God for Earl Grollman, and I thank Earl Grollman for this long-overdue book for grieving teenagers. Not only is it a treasure for kids, but it should be read by every school counselor and youth minister in America.' --Janice Harris Lord, national director of Victim Services, Mothers Against Drunk Driving

From the Publisher