This semi-autobiographical novel tells the story of the family of Bull Meecham, a Marine fighter pilot who runs his family with the strictness of a drill instructor shaping up a bunch of recruits. This book focuses mostly on the relationship between Bull and his eldest children. Ben, the first-born, is an athlete who can’t seem to please his father. Mary Ann, the second child, fights back against her father and the world with her biting sarcasm and charade of invincibility. This family illustrates many of the wrong ways to raise children, yet the love of the parents for their children is also evident. Many TCKs will identify with the four children’s varied responses to moving almost every year and having to repeatedly make friends in new schools.
Note: There are a lot of coarse jokes and sexual references in this book in the context of Marines or adolescent boys joking about these subjects.
This is a fictional story about a British MK attending elementary school at Chefoo School in Malaysia in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It’s written as reflections of her school experiences and adventures in Malaysia since she is about to start a new boarding school in England.
Emily’s family moves from the US to Japan where her father is in charge of the small American school. In spite of her homesickness, she begins to make new friends and explore Japanese culture, and gradually she helps the other American kids in her school discover that it’s fun to learn about their overseas home, too. This book is set right after WWII and shows how Emily overcomes her fear of Japan and that people from both places can learn a lot about each other.
Reentering a passport culture is usually a tough transition for TCKs since they’re going through a cultural shift that the people around them can’t easily see. They look like the people around them but inside they are from a whole different place and way of thinking. TCKs who have recently gone through this reentry themselves share their experiences here–the good and the bad– and give advice about navigating reentry.
TCKs are notorious for hating the question “Where are you from?” Such a mobile childhood, surrounded by others moving all the time as well, can make it difficult to belong to one place or group of people. These TCKs were asked about their own experience of home and where they feel they belong.
How many homes have you lived in?
Where are you from?
Where do you consider home?
Where do you fit in best?
How has your sense of home changed over the years?
Though not a TCK book, this is a great story for helping kids cope with friends moving away. Third grade Amber’s best friend Justin Daniels is moving. They’ve always had each other to rely on (and Justin would never say something like “Amber Brown is a crayon”). As the reality of Justin’s move sets in, both struggle with their feelings. After they have a fight and stop talking to each other, they need to resolve their conflict and share their feelings to manage the separation. Reading level: age 7-10 years
