The Best Free Books for Grieving Students
Grief, that moment when you can’t help the tears and sorrow that come from suffering deep loss and endless pain. I have been there, and I know you have as well. Grief does not wait for a convenient moment. It arrives in the middle of a school day, during an exam, in the lunch hall when everyone else is laughing. For many students, there is no language for what they are carrying and no space in the school day to carry it.
Books can offer what the school day cannot. A private space. A character who understands. A story that says you are not the first person to feel this way and you will not be the last.
Research consistently shows that bibliotherapy is particularly effective for children and young people experiencing grief and bereavement. A study by Heath et al. (2005) found that bibliotherapy significantly reduced grief symptoms in bereaved children when books were carefully selected to match the child's specific loss experience.
The key is matching the book to the emotional need rather than the age group or reading level. A grieving twelve year old may find more comfort in a picture book that speaks honestly about loss than in a novel written for their age group that avoids the subject.
At The Harbour Library our Safe Harbour collection was built specifically for this purpose. Here are some of our most powerful titles for grieving students:
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett: Sara Crewe loses her father and everything she has ever known and discovers a resilience she did not know she possessed.
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens: One of literature's most honest explorations of childhood grief and the long journey toward finding a place in the world.
Hey Kiddo by Jarrett J. Krosoczka: A graphic memoir about growing up with a mother in prison. Raw, honest and deeply comforting for any young reader carrying family grief.
When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed: A true story about a Somali refugee boy living in a Kenyan refugee camp, separated from his mother.
Every title in our Safe Harbour collection is available completely free at www.theharbourlibrary.com
-Olapeju Okungbowa
References
- Heath, M.A., Leavy, D., Hansen, K., Ryan, K., Lawrence, L., & Gerber, M.M. (2008). Bibliotherapy: A resource to facilitate emotional healing and growth. School Psychology International, 29 (2), 195-218.
- Hynes, A.M., & Hynes-Berry, M. (1986). Bibliotherapy: The interactive process: A handbook. Westview Press.
- Lampropoulos, G.K., Kazantzis, N., & Deane, F.P. (2004). Psychologists' use of bibliotherapy: A survey. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 35 (1), 22-28.
- Rozalski, M., Stewart, A., & Miller, J. (2010). Bibliotherapy: Helping children cope with life's challenges. Kappa Delta Pi Record, 47 (1), 33-37.
- Silverman, P.R. (2000). Never too young to know: Death in children's lives. Oxford University Press.
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