Thanks for all for the great input on this difficult topic!
Janet Moser
SLMS
Sousa Elementary
Port Washington, NY
Long Beach Public Library
Long Beach, NY
It may be "too much" for younger elem students, but Kate Dicamillo's Because
of Winn-Dixie works through the issue in a heart-wrenchingly beautiful way.
With repsect to both parents.
Here is a short list of books on abandonment or parental absence for younger
children, older children and teens:
Roger takes charge! By Susanna Gretz 1987
A door near here by Heather Quarles 1998
Kidnap kids by Todd Strasser 1998
Don't get lost! By Pat Hutchins 2004
Dizzy by Cathy Cassidy 2004
Shark bait by Graham Salisbury 1997
Down came a blackbird by Nicholas Wilde 1991
Joey Pigza swallowed the key by Jack Gantos 1998
Heron cove by Ruth Wallace-Brodeur 2003
Dicey's Song by Cynthia Voigt SP?
Is about a young girl with several brothers and sisters who Mother abandons
them outside a grocery store. The mother goes in to get food for the family
that is trying to reach their grandmother and she leaves the kids in the car
and never comes back. I remember loving it as a young girl.
Maybe The Crazy Man by Pamela Porter or
Hugging the Rock by Susan Taylor Brown would work.
upper elem:
Heck, superhero / Martine Leavitt
Abandoned by his mentally ill mother, thirteen-year-old Heck tries to
survive on his own as his mind bounces between the superhero character he
imagines himself to be and the harsh reality of his life.
The true colors of Caitlynne Jackson / Carol Lynch Williams
Twelve-year-old Caity and her younger sister Cara must fend for themselves
when their abusive mother storms out of the house with a suitcase and does
not come back.
Charlie's story / Maeve Friel.
After being abandoned by her mother at the age of four, living for ten years
with her somewhat distracted father in Ireland, and being mercilessly
bullied by her cruel classmates, Charlie Collins almost gives up on life.
lower elem:
Somebody somewhere knows my name / by Linda Lowery ; illustrated by John
Eric Karpinski
Grace describes what happens when she and her little brother are abandoned
by their mother and stay at an emergency shelter for children.
The Way a Door Closes by Anita Hope Smith It's a book in poems. The boy is a
part of a close-knot family until one day, without explanation, his father
just leaves.
The Pinballs by Byars
Dear Mr. Henshaw by Cleary
Here are a few I found myself:
Some Frog! by Eve Bunting. (Grade 2-4) -In a sensitive and honest story,
Bunting captures the heartache of a child whose parent doesn't follow
through on a promised excursion. Billy lives with his mother and
grandparents, but his father has arranged to take him to catch a frog for
his class' frog-jumping competition. When his father fails to show up and
the expedition is threatened, his understanding mom and grandparents step in
and help the boy learn that his life is really "very good the way it is,"
although his dad's presence would have enhanced the occasion.
I Wish I Had My Father by Norma Simon. Father's Day is tough for a boy
whose father left him years ago and never communicates with him.
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