Far Apart, Close in Heart by Becky Birtha

An author's note at the end of the book advises parents, caregivers, teachers, and counselors to do the same, to answer children's questions truthfully, and to assure them they are not alone. In the text, teachers, grandparents, and other adults listen to them with patience and understanding. In Far Apart, Close in Heart, children are encouraged to tell someone how they feel about what they are going through it just might make things better. This of course makes the family contact that research shows is beneficial to both children and their incarcerated parents all the more difficult. Unfortunately, keeping in touch can be extraordinarily expensive families have to pay to make calls to incarcerated family members, mail letters, and even send emails. From personal experience, I have seen how fiercely incarcerated parents want to be in their children's lives, and how much effort they put into the endeavor. The text also shows different ways incarcerated parents and their children keep in touch: letters, phone calls, and visits. The book provides examples of ways other people can be kind to a child in this situation: a coach puts an immediate end to bullying, for example, and a girl promises to stand by her friend regardless of the opinions of others. Other children may find that other people now act differently towards them because they have parent who is incarcerated. Some children are afraid, or angry others are sad at being separated from their family.Ī child with an incarcerated parent may have lots of questions, some of which may be hard to ask and hard to answer. The text features vignettes of different children dealing with the aftermath of a parent's incarceration, and working through many feelings as a result. Far Apart, Close in Heart: Being a Family When a Loved One is Incarcerated is a good book with which to start a conversation around parental incarceration.

Far Apart, Close in Heart by Becky Birtha