My Story: Blogs by Four Military Teens

My Story: Blogs by Four Military Teens

Michelle D. Sherman ~ DeAnne M. Sherman

Description:

My Story: Blogs by Four Military Teens is a series of fictional blogs by four military teens that highlights their feelings and experiences before, during, and after parental deployment. 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. Although the four youth in My Story are fictional, the stories are real—the blogs are a compilation of real life experiences of military kids we have been honored to meet and learn from.

Book Details:

• Softcover: 53 pages
• Publisher: Beaver’s Pond Press (2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592983030
• ISBN-13: 978-1592983032
• $12.95 at Seeds of Hope Books

About the Authors:

Michelle D. Sherman,Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist and directs the Family Mental Health Program at the Oklahoma City Veterans Affairs Medical Center. She is also a clinical associate professor at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.

DeAnne M Sherman, Michelle’s mother, is a teacher with over 40 years of experience educating, mentoring, and empowering teenagers.

My Thoughts:

Most books about deployments are geared towards younger children leaving tweens and teens without support books.  My Story uses a form of journaling that most, if not all, tweens/teens are familiar with, blogging, to help them see how other kids their age dealt with the unique situations that come with deployments.  Sometimes, just knowing that you aren’t the only one having these feelings or dealing with these circumstances can help you get through difficult times. Connecting with others, even through a book, just may be that one thing that would make military life just a little easier for that tween/teen.

Some of the topics covered include confusion, anger, depression, PTSD (in parent), injury of parent, reconnecting with parent, and divorce of parents.  At the end of the book, the reader is given a form journal to record their own story.  There is a glossary of terms as well as a resource list.  You can view a preview of the book here.

Munchkin’s Thoughts:

I liked reading the journal of the kids thoughts during and after deployments.  I could relate to the emotions of Mariah even though I am younger than her.  It would be helpful for military kids going through different situations that come from deployments.

I received a copy of My Story from Michelle D. Sherman for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was received.  All opinions are my own.