Someone I Love Has Died

Someone I Love Has Died: A Grief Journal for Teens is for young people ages 11 to 16 whose parent, grandparent, brother or sister, friend or someone else close has died. It is written to the teen in plain words (died, death, dead), and it doesn't tell them how they should feel.

Nobody grades it. They can write, draw, scribble or leave pages blank, skip around, and come back a month later. The welcome page sets one rule: you don't have to pretend.

Inside the 94 pages:

• Your Person: memories, what they were like, what you never want to forget
• How It Feels: all the feelings that come with grief, not just the sad ones
• The Hard Feelings: anger, guilt, complicated relationships and how they died
• Who You Are Now: how a death can change you and what you carry forward
• What Changed: home, birthdays, holidays and the stuff nobody talks about
• The World Out There: school, friends and words for when people ask
• Come Back Whenever and On This Day: more letters, memories and songs, plus a few lines about today

A shortcuts page near the front points to help, including the 988 line. At the back, a short guide for the adult who gave the book covers what grief can look like at this age, privacy, and how to help without taking over.

For younger brothers and sisters, see Someone I Love Has Died: A Shared Grief Journal for Children and Grown-Ups (ages 6 to 10).