Surviving Ellen

Rating:
Summary: High Maintenance Child Alert
Review: Everyone interacts with families. Every family has secrets. Sometimes, a high maintenance, self-destructive, low self-esteem child is one of them. Parents who have children like this often move into denial to survive, calling the behavior a phase, teen trauma, and/or peer influence.

Greta Eichel's family has an abundance of secrets that get more deliciously intriguing by the page. Yes, "Surviving Ellen" is a page turner that catches you.

Most importantly, this book is a book about love, mainly about the relationships of people who love someone who did not know how to love them back. The Socratic question for the reader to answer in this book is "do you know how to love the people you love in a way that feels loving to them?"

And, it is also a love story about two people, Greta and Stu, who knew how to love each other from the beginning and are still at it and going strong.

Like its title, this book is also about the strength to survive, whatever it takes, whenever it is necessary, however long it takes.

I believe this book could save many parents from having to survive their child's suicide.

Even those who have near-perfect children may benefit from it to help grandchildren or step-family members.

Rating:
Summary: High Maintenance Child Alert
Review: Everyone interacts with families. Every family has secrets. Sometimes, a high maintenance, self-destructive, low self-esteem child is one of them. Parents who have children like this often move into denial to survive, calling the behavior a phase, teen trauma, and/or peer influence.

Greta Eichel's family has an abundance of secrets that get more deliciously intriguing by the page. Yes, "Surviving Ellen" is a page turner that catches you.

Most importantly, this book is a book about love, mainly about the relationships of people who love someone who did not know how to love them back. The Socratic question for the reader to answer in this book is "do you know how to love the people you love in a way that feels loving to them?"

And, it is also a love story about two people, Greta and Stu, who knew how to love each other from the beginning and are still at it and going strong.

Like its title, this book is also about the strength to survive, whatever it takes, whenever it is necessary, however long it takes.

I believe this book could save many parents from having to survive their child's suicide.

Even those who have near-perfect children may benefit from it to help grandchildren or step-family members.

Rating:
Summary: Laughed 'til I cried
Review: This book about the trials and tribulations of three generations of an American family combines the human comedy of growing up with fallible parents and a much more fallible brother to the human tragedy of losing a grown-up daughter. The author's resilience in the face of minor and major challenges is a testament to the power of humor for maintaining mental health.