Broken Hearts...Healing
   Edited by Tom Worthen, Ph.D.
   (Associate Student Reviewer - Karrie G.)
  2001 Poet Tree Press, Logan, Utah
    ISBN: 1588761517


Young Poets Speak Out On Divorce. Straight from the broken hearts of children, from 9 through 19 from all over America, reacting to or experiencing divorce.

The reason my friend Rebecca thought this book would appeal to me is because of a good friend of mine, who was 8 when her parents decided to give up on their marriage, after already having three children between them. She never spoke to me about how she felt, & when I asked she either shrugged or said that it had been years &, anyway, she liked her step sisters.

I worried about my friend, she never stood up for herself, & would agree to anything to avoid confrontation. Often I would urge her to just say no, to get angry when someone insulted her. Or at least tell a teacher. After speaking to Rebecca, & my mother I decided to just let her tell me about her divorce if she ever felt the need.

One Friday my friend's father came to pick her up from school as he always did. Except this day he brought along his girlfriend. She was a great deal younger than her father, & not at all like my friend's mother. When the woman held out her hand to my friend, she didn't take it, instead she started yelling at her father. At one point she was so hysterical tears fell from her cheek. Her father wanted to comfort her, but she ignored him, got into the car & slammed the door shut. I never told her I had seen them, knowing she wouldn't have wanted me to.

“My mom and dad are like the moon and the sun, opposite and different.” this one line from one of the poems stuck in my head particularly long. It's very well written.

The bottom line is I don't think my friend knew who to pour her heart out to, or how to get it out of her system, which is why a book like this is so good.

[Editor writes: with half the marriages in America ending in divorce, this book is a profound reality check for parents about to call it quits. When parents divorce they are not only ending their marriage, they are changing forever their children's family life, often pitting one parent against the other, tearing their children to pieces. Parents are not only giving up on each other, they are also giving up on their children & that sends a painful message which is never spoken about & leaves a wound in their children's hearts & they learn to fear to love.]

Not all the poems were angry or depressed, some of them came from children who were obviously in the healing stage, accepting their parents loved them, but didn't love each other anymore. And also accepting new members in their family, step-brothers & sisters, mothers & fathers. This one, for instance, Stepfather:

“He always makes me smile, even though I'm sad inside.
That's what step-fathers are for, to give you love and
happiness. I pray he will leave my mother never
I love you stepfather!”

Children of all ages, the forgotten victims of divorce, via these beautiful poems, have written of their reactions to the divorce, & in telling of how they felt during their parents' divorce, have found some healing.

Any parent considering divorce, going through divorce, or are now officially divorced should read this book, & so should their children!

It helped me understand my friend better, & I hope that soon Broken Hearts ...Healing will be translated into Dutch, so my friend can read it too.

(08/26/01)
Karrie G.
A RebeccasReads.Com Associate Student Reviewer

Reviewer's Bio:
Karrie G. lives in The Netherlands. She is 15 years old, attends a Dutch Language School & is originally from Wisconsin, USA

Her favorite colors are: light blue, sea green, lavender & black!
Favorite sports are: swimming & soccer.
Favorite school subjects are: languages & creative writing class.
Favorite things to do are: playing the piano, reading, writing short stories & poetry, drawing & going to the movie theater.
The Netherlands is one of the smallest countries in Europe. Most people call the Netherlands Holland & it is about the size of Connecticut, but with a lot more people, sixteen million. You may think of tulips, chocolate, windmills & wooden shoes when you think of Holland. Although there are still lots of tulips & chocolate, & there are still some windmills, you wouldn't see many people wearing clogs today.