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SevenPonds / Books to Lend Insight / Loss of a Child or Young Adult Books

Loss of a Child or Young Adult Books

Losing a child or teen is every parent’s worst nightmare. These books understand that unique pain and offer support from others who’ve walked this impossible path. Find comfort in knowing you’re not alone in this overwhelming experience.

"In Lieu of Flowers"

By Shawna Lemay

Award-winning novelist, essayist and poet Shawna Lemay read a friend’s father’s obituary on Facebook a few years ago. Hi…

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"A Heart That Works"

By Rob Delaney

In “A Heart That Works,” Rob Delaney manages to do what seems impossible: survive the death of his toddler son; write a …

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"When Words Are Not Enough

By Jane Harris and Jimmy Edmonds

Jane Harris and Jimmy Edmonds are on a mission to “change the landscape and language of grief.” The Good Grief Project i…

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"Clap When You Land"

By Elizabeth Acevedo

In 2018, Elizabeth Acevedo took the stage as one of the most important new voices in young adult literature. Her first n…

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Where Reasons End

By Yiyun Li

Whatever state one is in when reading Yiyun Li’s 2019 novel “Where Reasons End,” it is a heartbreaking force of fiction….

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Cover of Joan Didion's Blue

"Blue Nights"

By Joan Didion

As husbands and wives age together, it is inevitable that one spouse will outlive the other. Burying one’s child, howeve…

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black book cover of bearing the unbearable with a plant in the center

"Bearing the Unbearable"

By “Bearing the Unbearable” by Joanne Cacciatore, Ph.D.

Joanne Cacciatore, Ph.D. is a researcher, educator, grief counselor and Zen priest who for over 20 years has helped her …

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"Sugar Cookies and a Nightmare"

By Carol Kearns, Ph.D.

When Carol Kearns lost her 7-year-old daughter Kristen to a rogue wave in 1976, she thought her life had come to an end….

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"Saving Zoë"



By Alyson Noël

Struggling to figure out what to read next, visiting one of my local Little Free Libraries turned serendipitous when I p…

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"About What Was Lost, 20 Writers on Miscarriage, Healing, and Hop…

By Jessica Berger Gross

When the book About What Was Lost, 20 Writers on Miscarriage, Healing, and Hope came into our office, I grabbed it to pe…

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"Looking for Alaska"

By John Green

Looking for Alaska is a wonderfully beautiful tragedy. In it, we follow Miles “Pudge” Halter as he is sent away from his…

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"Carrie and Me: A Mother-Daughter Love Story"

By Carol Burnett

Many people think of Carol Burnett as a lively and beloved comedian and entertainer best known for her long-running vari…

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"Holding Silvan, A Brief Life"

By Monica Wesolowska

Few books offer a journey so intimate and overwhelming that we witness the author’s experience as though we were there. …

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"Birds of America"

By Lorrie Moore

Lorrie Moore has made an appearance on this blog before for a reason. Her simple, incisive writing and her tragically ev…

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"By the Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead"

By Julie Anne Peters

Have you ever… tried to end your own life? Daelyn has. She’s the main character of Julie Anne Peters’ YA novel By the …

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"Healing After Loss"

By Martha W. Hickman

As we approach the holidays, it can be both a joyful and a sorrowful time for those who have lost loved ones.  For a sea…

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"Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close"

By Jonathan Safran Foer

In the novel by Jonathan Safran Foer, nine-year-old Oskar Schell has embarked on an urgent, secret mission that will tak…

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