Staying Afloat

If this book does nothing more than acknowledge and forgive, it will be monumental in the lives of countless children that deserve a badge of ‘survivorship’ of their own.

Imagine that, in an instant, all the routines in a child's life are disrupted: school…home…social life. With little warning and few exceptions, this is what happens to our SIBSPlace children who are living with a brother, sister, or parent with cancer or another devastating/chronic illness.

If you know a child living in a similar situation, our book, Staying Afloat, offers you both insight and practical advice about the complicated feelings well children struggle with daily, as told through fictional examples based on real-life situations. Each story includes professional commentary and exercises to help the well-child identify and better understand his or her feelings. Staying Afloat is an invaluable tool that can truly help change lives.

Staying Afloat Book

But don’t just take it from us. Consider this professional praise for Staying Afloat:

"Staying Afloat is important and long-overdue, for it not only illustrates the complexities of a child living in a home where illness rules, but provides concrete explanations and actions that may be adapted to meet the needs of countless families. It gives voice to the fears, the guilt, the suppression, the false bravado, the attention-seeking, the diminishment, suffered by the well-child overtly or in silence, when a sibling or a parent is gravely ill. It recognizes the sea of chaotic and conflicting behaviors and emotions the well child navigates and offers simple, direct insight and ways to help, whether you are family member, teacher, medical professional, or friend. If this book does nothing more than acknowledge and forgive, it will be monumental in the lives of countless children that deserve a badge of ‘survivorship’ of their own."

Nina J. Pickett, M.P.S.
Administrator, Department of Pediatrics
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Click here to read excerpts from the book.

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