LOSING SOMEONE YOU LOVE: When A Brother or Sister Dies

by Elizabeth Richter ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 3, 1986

The grief of 15 adolescents, as expressed in their own words. The passages vary in length, and the teens differ in their stages of bereavement and ability to verbalize agony, but the halting quality of their narration enhances the book's piercing reality. Their siblings have died from crib death, vehicular and drowning accidents, cancer, blood disorders, murder, and suicide. The person lost was usually a teen (in one case, a twin), but sometimes a younger child, toddler, or infant. Some of the deaths were recent, others long ago. Regardless of the circumstances, Richter allows the survivors to speak whatever is on their minds now. The composite, edited result is an unobstrusive, natural overview of likely emotions--fear for one's health, guilt at survival, abandonment, pervasive sadness or depression, the need to try to recover. Richter wisely doesn't give step-by-step procedures for that recovery. What she offers instead are the details survivors want as reassurance they're not alone. As she did in The Teenage Hospital Experience, Richter provides a compelling road away from loneliness.

Pub Date: Feb. 3, 1986

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Putnam

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1986

Categories: NONFICTION