Editorial Reviews
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"I remember them arguing a lot. All the time." "My dad and mom are still real good friends." "When she married somebody else, at first it was comfortable." "It was like a shock." These are the voices of children of divorce, as compiled by David Royko, talking about issues as diverse as separation, self-blame, visitation, siblings, "Mom and Dad and Dating and Sex," stepfamilies, money, coping tactics, and fantasies of stalemate reconciliation. Over the course of three years, Royko, a divorce mediator for the Cooks County Court in Chicago, interviewed scores of children, ages 5 to 21. Their moving and insightful comments comprise this book, which is designed as a teaching tool for divorcing parents. Royko occasionally annotates these stories, pointing out for readers which elements to look for. But it is the words and emotions of the children themselves that tell the tale, and that, perhaps, can help divorcing readers protect their children from emotional harm. As Leroy, age 15, says, "When your mother and father split up, I don't care what age you are, if you love them at all, it hurts. It hurts bad." --Ericka Lutz
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
"Among the scores of books concerning divorce, rarely have the voices of the innocent victims-- the children-- been heard. In Dr. David Royko's deeply moving assemblage of the kids' sometimes troubled yet revealing thoughts, we hear them at last."--Studs Terkel, author of Working
"The silent sounds of family breakups are captured with startling clarity by Dr. David Royko, who helps us to hear the observations and intimate revelations of those who have the least control of the process and who are most affected by it. By giving voice to those silent witnesses, Dr. Royko confirms for us working in the field-- lawyers, judges, mediators, social workers, and therapists-- the devastating impact of divorce on those least able to cope, and the need for divorcing parents to develop an awareness of the child's perspective."--Benjamin S. Mackoff, former presiding judge of the Cook County Domestic Relations Court and director of family mediation services, Schiller, Ducanto, and Fleck
"Dr. David Royko's Voices of Children of Divorce provides sage observations from the children who have been the witness of adult folly. The book is truly wonderful in that it allows children with vastly different experiences to share their perspectives with clarity and focus, in the process teaching adults how to better manage divorce."--Bennett L. Leventhal, M.D. Irving B. Harris Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Chicago
"At last we hear from that silent majority, the children who are always the victims in divorce. Dr. David Royko's collection of their candid observations should move divorcing parents to reevaluate their priorities and their behavior."--Jenny Garden, author of The (Almost) Painless Divorce: What Your Lawyer Won't Tell You
Voices of Children of Divorce,David Royko,Golden Guides from St. Martin's Press,0312254695,Child Care/Parenting,Divorce & Separation,Family & Relationships,Family / Parenting / Childbirth,Family & Relationships / Divorce
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