Tear Soup

In this modern-day fable, a woman who has suffered a terrible loss cooks up a special batch of "tear soup," blending the unique ingredients of her life into the grief process. Along the way she dispenses a recipe of sound advice for people who are in mourning.

A young boy describes his feelings about the death of a baby in his family.

Newbery-winning Rules meets Counting by 7s in this affecting story of a girl’s devotion to her brother and what it means to be home When eleven-year-old Thyme Owens’ little brother, Val, is accepted into a new cancer drug trial, it’s just the second chance that he needs. But it also means the Owens family has to move to New York, thousands of miles away from Thyme’s best friend and everything she knows and loves. The island of Manhattan doesn’t exactly inspire new beginnings, but Thyme tries to embrace the change for what it is: temporary. After Val’s treatment shows real promise and Mr. Owens accepts a full-time position in the city, Thyme has to face the frightening possibility that the move to New York is permanent. Thyme loves her brother, and knows the trial could save his life—she’d give anything for him to be well—but she still wants to go home, although the guilt of not wanting to stay is agonizing. She finds herself even more mixed up when her heart feels the tug of new friends, a first crush, and even a crotchety neighbor and his sweet whistling bird. All Thyme can do is count the minutes, the hours, and days, and hope time can bring both a miracle for Val and a way back home. With equal parts heart and humor, Melanie Conklin’s debut is a courageous and charming story of love and family—and what it means to be counted.

An invaluable tool for kids to discuss death, explore grief, and honor the life of loved ones.

The Tear Soup Cooking Tips are now available in a small easy to read booklet. These Tips booklets are perfect for educators and support groups to provide for families in need.

Help your child navigate feelings of sadness and loss with 100 unique, activity-based approaches that help them manage their childhood grief in a healthy and constructive way. The loss of a loved one is a complex, confusing experience for a child to understand. Children may struggle to express, process, and manage their complicated and conflicting feelings, whether the loss is a parent, grandparent, sibling, or even a pet. So, what should you do to help your child process their sadness, loss, and frustration in a more healthy, positive way? In A Parent’s Guide to Managing Grief, you’ll learn everything you need to know about how children grieve and what you can do to support them during their most difficult moments. From there, you’ll find 100 activities that you can use in a group setting, activities that you (or another caregiver) can do alone with your child, and ways to make the most of virtual interactions to support a grieving child. Explore activities like: -Making a scream box -Playing with clay -Feelings charades game -Making a memory bracelet -And many more! It can feel difficult to connect with your child as you process your own complicated emotions surrounding loss. Use these activities to help bridge the gap between you and your child and to help you both find comfort in a difficult situation. You’ll find all the tools you need to help your child (and even yourself) healthily process your grief and move towards happiness, understanding, and acceptance together.

In today’s world, trauma and traumatic loss are increasingly common. This book surveys the important constructs, concepts, and dynamics of trauma, loss, grief, and growth, offering resources and strategies that ministers and other spiritual caregivers can use as they support and facilitate people in their journey from trauma recovery to grief work to spiritual growth. The book presents a framework for understanding the interrelationship between trauma recovery work, grief work, and spiritual growth. The author argues that each of these components is essential for a full and complete healing from trauma and traumatic losses and that they work together in the ongoing process of healing. Traumas and traumatic losses are times of “crisis” in the sense that they are turning points in people’s lives; people can either grow through the experience or decline under the weight of their unbearable sorrow and anxiety. How people handle traumas and significant losses may be the most important variable in their psychological, relational, and spiritual health. The author gives special attention to describing ways in which God might draw close to the traumatized and bereaved in their process of recovery and healing.

"This inspiring and penetrating new book by Dr. Sinor shows how we gather the courage and the force of will to make a transformational change."--Mark Thurston, Ph.D.

"Under and out from under the shadow of death Joanne Lehman writes 'in the emptiness between one breath and the next.' Her rural Ohio land-scape is animated with rough and mild weather, red wing blackbirds, hayfields, woodlands, and the sweet and sometimes too-tight lips and rhythms of sectarian life. These poems speak simply, and their mourning, memory, and healing are a balm for times when a little bit of quiet would do us all a world of good. This is a fine first book--as meditative, wise, and joyful as it is bound to local life on our turning earth."--Julia Kasdorf