Seeing Their Story in Books

 Jeremy Van Wyk, the State Youth Coordinator for the Iowa National Guard, has put together a great list of books that deal with issues affecting military children.  Though most of the books are for young children, a few are meant for older readers.  One of these is entitled My Story: Blogs by Four Military Teens, by Michelle D. Sherman, PhD, and DeAnne M. Sherman (Beaver's Pond Press, Inc. ISBN 9781592983032).  The book is a series of blogs by four military teens expressing their feelings and experiences before, during, and after parental deployment. According to Van Wyk, "it provides support and education for all military teens and pre-teens by honoring their unique joys and sacrifices, addressing their fears and hopes, and exploring how parental deployment affects their lives." The four bloggers in "My Story" are fictional and their blogs are created by the Shermans, but the stories are based on the true experiences of military kids the authors know. "My Story" can also serve as a tool to help non-military teens understand the experiences of others. 

The children's books have the typical assortment of animal characters as focal points, lots of interactive ideas, and upbeat, imaginative story lines.  One that sounds particularly interesting is A Year Without Dad, by Jodi Brunson (Ithaca Press ISBN 0974068314). The story is designed to give children a clearer picture of how long a year might feel  when the parent is deployed.