Jessica's Two Families

Helping Children Cope with Blended Households

by Lynne Hugo, LPCC
illustrated by Adam Gordon

Like so many children from divorced families, Jessica finds herself dealing with the pressures and anger that come when both her mother and father remarry and she has two whole new families to live with, each with different rules. She feels angry because nothing is like how it was before. Her new step-parents set down rules that feel unfair. And her new step-siblings don’t seem to want her around. Jessica feels lonely because her mother spends time with her new husband, Mike, and her father is busy with two additional children to raise.

With the support of a counselor, Jessica courageously tells her family how she really feels. She shares her fears and her loneliness. She tells them that she is unhappy sharing a room with her step-sister because nothing there is hers- she’s just a visitor. And she lets her Mom know that she feels abandoned when she and step-dad Mike go out.

With honesty and compassion, this book teaches children that it is okay to be upset about adjusting to new families. It urges them to share their hurt feelings with their parents and counselors so that everyone can learn how to make the good parts of her new extended family better. Children learn that functioning as blended family will take time, but their efforts will be rewarded. Two new families means twice the love!

Lynne Hugo holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and English from Connecticut College and a master’s degree from Miami University in southwestern Ohio. A Licensed Professional Clinical Professional, she has worked as a psychotherapist for 25 years. She is the co-author of Swimming Lessons (William Morrow and Co.) and Baby’s Breath (Synergistic Press). The Connecticut native currently resides in Oxford, Ohio with her husband and two children.

A Small Horizons "Let's Talk" Release
Fiction/Children's Self-help
7 x 8, 48 pages/23 color illustrations
LC # 2004118084, world rights
ISBN-10: 0-88282-263-2
ISBN-13: 978-0-88282-263-1 (pb), $8.95