Grief Squad: Mom's Sky
AFTER LOSS COMES AN UNEXPECTED NEW BEGINNING
Ten-year-old Daniel feels lost and confused after the death of his beloved mother. But when he finds a mysterious glowing key at her grave, a whole new world of possibilities is unlocked.
Join siblings Daniel and Emily as they learn that just because you feel alone in loss, doesn’t mean you are, and unlock a new adventure that might just be the thing to mend their broken hearts.
7x10, 24 pages
Grief Squad: Mom’s Sky touched my heart and soul. It reveals grief from the young person’s point of view, shows meaningful ways to cope and validates all emotions. It points to but doesn’t shy away from the tension in relationships after a loss. This book shares the humanness of both being with loss and moving forward simultaneously. It gives a voice to those thoughts inside our grieving minds, allowing the reader to connect easily no matter their situation. It’s a book for all ages to feel the stages of grief, honour their loved ones and experience a new way of living. Grief Squad: Mom’s Sky also engages the reader in adventure, offering hope and fun and setting the stage for more. Well done! —Suzanne Conroy M.Ed., CTI, CPCC
This is a great grief resource for the bereaved, especially children and teens. There is a lot of grief wisdom within the story. I look forward to reading more of these and seeing what kind of adventures the children go on. —Dr. Joshua Black, Grief Dream Specialist
This was a great book! It captured so many emotions that children will go through with grief. Such a great resource to have and share! Having it set as a comic book is so captivating for young readers! Can't wait to see what's next in the series! —Sabrina
Take a little peek inside:
Susan Repa began her 35 year career as a Child and Youth Worker working in Toronto. Sue’s career path was circuitous in leading her from a career as a director of group homes for youth and adults with autism to a 25 year career as a Registered Massage Therapist. During this time Sue continued her work counselling young people. Sue is currently a Partial Load Professor at Conestoga College in the Faculty of Business; she is an Executive Leadership Coach and is working towards her ICF credentials. During the past five years Sue has continued her passion for working with children, youth and their families, and has specialized in grief and bereavement, currently serving as the Director of Programs and Services at Dr. Bob Kemp Hospice. Sue is a comic book enthusiast and has combined this, her passion for children and youth, and her interest in grief and bereavement into Grief Squad: Mom’s Sky, a comic/manga style grief and bereavement book for children.
One of the things we all have in common is grieving. Our lives are punctuated by the loss of friends and family members. The time of grieving seems to depend on the degree of attachment. It always seems sadder when young people die, but it’s never easy, in part because we don’t understand death, and never will.
In Grief Squad: Mom’s Sky, the first section of a graphic novel on this topic, that incomprehension is primarily expressed as a concern about the future – “What now?” A young mother (Amanda) has died, leaving a husband (Patrick) and two children (Emily and Daniel) to wonder how they can go on with their lives at all. The book offers several important answers to that question. For one thing, the grieving, which will remain intense for some time to come, needs to be soothed with shared memories of the past. Those memories will also help to keep the principal memory of the loved one alive, something that’s more difficult than it would seem. Freud called this “the work of mourning”.
Among other parts of this “work”, highlighted in Grief Squad, is the construction of new “memories” in the present – in this case the renaming by the children of the colourful night sky, which their mother loved, and which they will now call “Mom’s Sky”. Another task, not explicitly mentioned in Grief Squad, is the building of memories in the future, the task of anticipating, or remembering, such things as the pride a lost parent would feel in the event of an accomplishment. “Your father would be so proud,” we say. Or, “I wish he were here to enjoy this.” “It’s a poor sort of memory that only works backwards,” said the White Queen to Alice.
Finally, to give another example of the usefulness of this book, as a subtle book of instruction, it’s important for others who might not “know what to say” to express their feelings of empathy, to comfort their grieving friend or relative. Daniel’s friend Ben says, “Oh, I guess I shouldn’t have asked. I don’t want to upset you.” “I’m already upset,” says Daniel, “but I like talking about it.” Another group of children, who undoubtedly know this need from experience, have formed an association called “The Grief Squad”. Toward the end of this introductory chapter, another character, a wise, beautiful and slightly older girl named Tiffany, arrives out of nowhere to explain the meaning of the Grief Squad key that Daniel found near his mother’s grave. The key, she tells them when asked, open’s only one thing, “Adventures”.
Grief Squad will be useful to all those who have to deal with attachment and loss, either personally or professionally – i.e. everyone. —Ted Byrne