Grief, loss, depression, anxiety, uncertainty. Big hard-to-deal-with feels that demand big help.
This Is Not A Sad Book is that help. In short, it’s a lighthouse of hope, explanation and tactics to apply when one finds oneself or someone they know, in a dark, scary, perilous place.
One of the key defining factors of this empowering book, and there are many, is the acknowledgment that change is the main constant in our fragile human lives and, it’s not always pleasant to deal with.
The realisation that loss will be experienced by
every single one of us is suggested with a firm but earnest hand. There is just
no escaping life. It’s how we handle the subsequent aftermath of hard times
that determines our recovery and future endurance.
Loss and the associated grief one experiences is not
easy to define and is sometimes even more abstruse to recognise. It might be the
physical departure of a loved one, a pet, a change of normality, the absence of
a sense of self or surrender of expectation that creates a deep and visceral
aching or emotional abyss. Whatever it is, this book ensures you that you are
not alone. That it’s OK to feel what you’re feeling and with guidance and
patience, one day, you will feel better.
Author, artist, teacher and current KBR reviewer, Elizabeth
Vercoe penned this original CBCA Honour book ten years ago with co-author,
Kerry Abramowski. Together they curated a collection or bag as it were of ‘tricks’;
clever, simple and easily actionable snippets of advice that gently massage bruised
spirits, reel back lost souls and provide much needed focus and light in times
of dire need. This new edition, delightfully enhanced by Grace Fraraccio’s delicate
line drawings, embraces the multitude of social and emotionally complex issues
our younger generations are currently navigating.
Presented in a powerful immediate yet blessedly
gentle voice, Vercoe directs us through the ambiguities of grief and all its
uglies. Anecdotal examples sprinkled thoughtfully throughout provide gravity and
real-life conclusions. Candor marches considerately alongside empathy ensuring a
balanced mix of audience appropriate understanding and support.
The result is far more far-reaching. In fact, I have already given a copy to someone in need, because the effects of grief and hopelessness often have a disconcerting ripple effect on those around someone who is suffering emotionally. It will not be the last copy I pass on, either.
Not all the tricks in this self-helping bag will
find immediate relevance but the beauty of this conversational, non-judgy guide
is that it is there when required, with strategies and ideas to be extracted
when the time is right. When support is needed.
I can’t recommend this tender-hearted beckon of
tutelage highly enough. Whether it is you, your child or someone close to you
who has lost their shine, please incorporate This Is Not A Sad Book into
your self-help, feel-better library because … it really is OK to feel sad.
For your chance to win a copy of this touching guide
to grief, loss and getting through hard times, enter our exclusive
KBR Giveaway, now. Competition closes Saturday 14 September.
Title: This Is Not A Sad Book (but it’s OK to feel sad)
Author: Elizabeth Vercoe with Kerry Abramowski
Illustrator: Grace Fraraccio
Publisher: Affirm Press, $24.99
Publication Date: 27 August 2024
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781922930019
For ages: 9 – 99
Type: Non-fiction