Jessica's Two Familes: Helping Children Learn to Cope with Blended Households

by Lynne Hugo, Adam Gordon (Illustrations)

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 honesty and compassion, Jessica's Two Families 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 a 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!

48 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2005

About the author

Lynne Hugo is an American author whose roots are in the northeast. A National Endowment For The Arts Fellowship recipient, she has also received repeat individual artists grants from the Ohio Arts Council and the Kentucky Foundation for Women. Her publications include eight novels, one volume of creative non-fiction, two books of poetry and a children’s book. She lives with her husband, a former Vice President for Academic Affairs of a liberal arts college and now a professional photographer, in the Midwest. They have two grown children, three grandchildren, and a yellow Labrador retriever.

Ms. Hugo has taught creative writing to hundreds of schoolchildren through the Ohio Arts Council’s renowned Arts in Education program. She holds a Bachelor’s degree from Connecticut College, and a Master’s from Miami University.

When an editor asked her to describe herself as a writer, she responded:

“I write in black Wal-Mart capri sweatpants. They don’t start out as capris, but I routinely shrink them in the drier by accident. And I always buy black because it doesn’t show where I’ve wiped the chocolate off my hands. Now that my son and daughter are grown, my previous high grade of ‘below average’ in Domestic Achievement has dropped somewhat. But I’m less guilty about it now. I lose myself in crafting language by a window with birdfeeders hanging in the branches of a Chinese elm towering over the house. When I come up for air, I hike by the ponds and along the river in a nearby forest with my beloved Lab. My husband, with whom I planted that elm as a bare root sapling, joins us when he can.”

Reviews

[Shanice · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a girl named Jessica whose parents are divorced. Jessica now lives in two different homes with two separate families. Jessica is angry and confused because she had to learn the rules of two different families. Jessica feels as if her parents doesn't love her because they have new families. She wants everything to go back to the way they were before her parents got divorced. Eventually Jessica becomes accustomed to having two families and learns to get along with everyone. The story is interesting for children off all ages because it is easy to understand. The language used include dialogue which can help children understand that there are multiple characters. The story also includes the problem of Jessica not wanting to go to two different houses and then her loving o go to both houses. The illustrations are vibrant and interesting fro children. The pictures allow young children to follow the story without confusion because the test matches.

Quote from the book " In two families there are more people to love and to love you back."