Best Books to Support Youth Affected by Addiction in the Family
Books on Addiction – By Recommended Age
Understanding substance use disorder and the way it affects those around us can be a hard topic to cover not only for children, but also for adults. Books are a resource we can use to educate and lessen confusion around the disease of addiction. These are our recommended books on addiction that cover age groups from preschoolers to teens. These books were selected based on highly regarded reviews, camp partner recommendations, and availability.
Ages 3-5
Lambi Learns About Addiction – Trish Luna: This is a 36-page, colorfully illustrated picture book written to help children ages 3-12 cope with a parent’s addiction. This book helps kids understand about the disease of addiction and how it is not their fault. It offers a variety of coping skills, such as the ability to identify and express feelings in healthy ways, mindful breathing, and the importance of play and fun. Link to Purchase
Ages 5-11
A Sickness You Can’t See – Laura Washington: A Sickness You Can’t See is based on a true story of three children loving someone with an addiction. This book is to help a child not feel alone or think that they’re the only child in the world that loves someone with this strange sickness that sometimes takes the person they love away from them. This book also helps people broach the subject with the child. Many times adults are unsure how to talk to children about addiction and this book provides a way. Link to Purchase
Timbi Talks about Addiction: Helping Children Cope with a Parent’s Addiction – Trish Healy Luna & Janet Healy Hellier: Timbi Talks about Addiction is a 28-page superbly illustrated picture book designed to help children cope with a parent’s substance use disorder (SUD). Through Timbi, children learn that: addiction is a disease, it is not their fault, their varied emotions are valid. Timbi teaches them coping skills that they can use whether they are alone, or with a trusted adult to give them a much-needed sense of control in a chronically stressful environment. Timbi has been nationally recognized as an ideal resource to help families, teachers, counselors, physicians, judges, foster parents, and advocates in the fight against the long-term damaging impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Link to Purchase
Selah Has a Secret – Simone R. Brown: is a children’s book that gracefully explains addiction from the perspective of a young girl. Through intentional rhymes and pictures, readers will gain more clarity about the disease of addiction and learn coping skills to better manage their worries and feelings. The book also includes discussion questions to help parents/caregivers, educators, and mental health professionals navigate difficult but necessary conversations with children impacted by addiction. Link to Purchase
All the Pieces: When a Loved One Dies From Substance Use – Hallie Riggs, MSW, LICSW: Often, children who lose a loved one to overdose are not truthfully told what happened to the person who died, because of the stigma associated with this type of death. They often assume that the death was their fault (rather than that it was the symptom of a disease) and that it’s not okay to remember their loved one, nor is it okay to feel angry about the death. This book aims to help parents and practitioners address these specific areas and provide validation/ normalization of these grief responses. Link to Purchase
A Kids Book About Overdose – Lee S. Varon, LICSW: This book is carefully written for children and grownups to read together about drug overdoses, the disease of addiction, how to get help when someone experiences an overdose, and validation for a variety of grief responses. Link to Purchase**
Critters Cry Too – Anthony Curcio: Critters didn’t need much to be happy, a good game of critterball and doing what they loved to do most, talking to each other, was usually enough. But when Whateveritwas (what Critters called cookies) came, all of that changed. Some Critters stopped talking, stopped playing and stopped being themselves. All they wanted was more Whateveritwas. With a broken heart, Calvin had to do something but there wasn’t much of anything he could do. Following good advice from an obnoxious insect friend and having a loved one to talk to, Calvin learns how to find himself even while some of the Critters he loves were still lost. Link to Purchase**
The Tricky Sticky Addiction Monster – Charlaine Sevigny: The Tricky Sticky Addiction Monster tackles a heavy subject in a lighthearted and straightforward manner. Sam is a young boy whose mom meets the Addiction Monster. As the Monster gains a hold on her, Sam learns that it is addiction, not his mom, that is the problem, that it’s not his fault, and that he will be okay- no matter what happens.The addiction that Sam’s mom struggles with is not specified, allowing the book to be a help in many situations. Link to Purchase**
My Brother Is Not A Monster: A Story of Addiction and Recovery – Lee S. Varon, LICSW: The book is for young people who have a sibling dealing with substance use disorder. It tells a realistic yet optimistic story, and can serve as a tool for young people, caregivers, and social service agencies to navigate these difficult conversations about this topic. It includes tips for parents/caregivers and children, resources, a glossary, and a workbook. Link to Purchase**
The Letter: Annie’s Appalachian Adventures – Hannah Evans: The Letter was written to help children grasp the idea of substance use disorder as an illness and how to overcome shame. This strength-based book provides a message of hope and love for Annie and her mother. Substance misuse is explained in kid friendly terms and ends with a sample letter and activity for young readers. Link to Purchase
My Daddy Loves Me, My Daddy has a Disease – Claudia Black: Working through the loneliness, fear and frustration by expressing feelings is what this book is all about. This workbook gives children age 5 – 12 the opportunity to share their thoughts and feelings and to better understand addiction. Link to Purchase
An Elephant in the Living Room – Jill M. Hastings: An illustrated story to help children understand and cope with the problem of alcoholism or other drug addiction in the family. Link to Purchase**
The Brown Bottle – Penny Jones: Enter the world of Charlie, a fuzzy brown creature who leaves the caterpillar kingdom to follow the bright, invigorating glow of life inside a discarded brown bottle. This illustrated fable is an excellent storybook for explaining alcoholism to young children. Link to Purchase**
Floating Away: A Book to Help Children Understand Addiction – Andrew J. Bauman: This book provides an avenue for dialogue with the over 18 million children who are affected by addiction in America. It follows a simple metaphor of addiction as the main character, Sam, is swept away in a bubble. At first he is curious and excited, but he slowly becomes bored and isolated, encounters a devastating storm, and, finally, tries to find his way back home to his family. His journey symbolizes the struggle of addiction in a way children can understand. Link to Purchase**
Ages 12-17
Hey, Kiddo – Jarrett Krosoczka: A graphic novel about growing up with a drug-addicted mother, a missing father, and two unforgettably opinionated grandparents. Only as a teenager can Jarrett begin to piece together the truth of his family, reckoning with his mother and tracking down his father. Hey, Kiddo is a profoundly important memoir about growing up in a family grappling with addiction and finding the art that helps you survive. Link to Purchase**
Hooked: When Addiction Hits Home – Chloe Shantz-Hilkes: A collection of ten true stories based on interviews with people who, in their youth, lived with an addicted parent or sibling. The subjects speak honestly about what it was like to grow up with a family member addicted to alcohol, drugs, food, pills, or gambling. While describing how they managed to cope, interviewees explore the full range of situations and emotions they experienced—from denial, anger, and confusion to acceptance and forgiveness. Their maturity, sensitivity, and even their sense of humor will give teens going through similar situations the important realization that there are many ways to break free from the chains of others’ addictions. Link to Purchase
Why Don’t They Just Quit?: Hope for Families Struggling with Addiction – Joe Herzanek: Watching a loved one immersed in an intense battle with alcohol and drug abuse may be the most difficult, complex and harrowing experience you’ll ever have. This book offers a message of hope to families and friends, giving practical solutions so they can help anyone struggling with addiction to begin the road to recovery. Link to Purchase**
Addiction: Why Can’t They Just Stop? – John Hoffman, Susan Froemke: This companion book to the HBO documentary of the same name sheds light on the hidden American epidemic of addiction. Blending compelling personal narratives with statistics and expert opinion, all gleaned from over two years of research and reporting, ADDICTION offers a comprehensive and provocative look at the impact of chemical dependency on addicts, their loved ones, society, and the economy. Breaking the stigma that addicts are simply weak and immoral, it delves into new brain research proving that drugs and alcohol change the chemical composition of addicts’ brains, making it veritably impossible for them to quit. The nation’s top experts persuasively argue that the time has come for the blame to stop and the healing to begin. Link to Purchase
Please let us know if you have any favorites that we are missing. Email Sarah
