Thousands of children grew up with little or no parental guidance, and as a result, many of them are battling psychological and emotional problems as adults. These latchkey children are mostly unaware of how their upbringing has affected their present, but in Growing Up Latchkey, the author explores how she and others were affected by growing up largely unsupervised. Darla K. Johnson, PhD, draws on her background as a psychotherapist, psychologist, and spiritual counselor to explore the dynamics of latchkey families that had to contend with energy crises, the Cold War, recessions, and long hours at work. In these families, many children spent their entire K–12 experience getting themselves ready for school, arriving home to no parent greeting them, and in the author’s case—having no one to protect them from an abusive sibling. Johnson eventually developed post-traumatic stress disorder, but she overcame her symptoms to live a fulfilling and happy life. Join the author on a deep personal journey that holds lessons for educators, employers, therapists, and parents on helping people recover from and avoid fear and torment from childhood traumas.

In 1945, the Smith family moved to Elmsford, New York, a suburban community known for its plentiful elm trees and Ford cars. Dad, who liked the fast pace and bright lights of New York City, stayed behind, leaving Mom to raise five kids. With little parental supervision, the Smith children became latch-key kids, essentially raising themselves. Mom and Dad eventually decided to get back together, and the family moved back to New York City. But when heroin swept through the city like a white tornado, the Smiths’ peaceful lives would never be the same again! In Growing Up Too Fast, Dying Too Young, author Courtney Miller chronicles his life as a latch-key kid and shares the pain of his brothers’ fatal love affair with drugs. With his family torn apart by heroin, Courtney chooses a different path and discovers hope and purpose in Jehovah. His memoir offers a raw and honest look at children who grow up too fast…and die far too young.

Memoir of the Ultimate Latchkey is a story of a kid who faces incredible hardships and uses those struggles as motivation to change his circumstances. The protagonist swiftly graduates from a naive child into a seductive life of crime and countless trysts. This story centers on his love for women and how they shape his view of the world. Along the way, he learns life lessons through the drug trade of Manhattan and he meets pivotal people during the journey that help him find himself. Christopher blurs the lines of right and wrong to create a grey hue of reality that governs his moves.

Just Messing Around is a zany rollercoaster ride through a latchkey child’s world of antics and misadventures, laughter and fisticuffs, skirting problems, and hatching wacky schemes. The author, like so many of his generation, lived an unsupervised childhood that characterized many suburban Long Island communities of the early 60s. Absent parents, these kids ran wild in their rural, suburban world. They saw themselves as frontiersmen, daredevils, and self-confessed hellions. These children were also alone way too much, sometimes frightened, and in serious need of discipline and hugs. This heartwarming collection of stories, seen through the eyes of one kid, depicts their lives of roaming fields and woods, surviving their daily, madcap adventures, exploring haunted farmhouses, and, as we kids would say, just messing around.

The Latchkey Kids seek the pieces of an ancient statue to release a spirit that haunts their classroom. The children have to face their fears, the torment of bullies, the trials of illnesses and worst of all, an adult world that scarcely acknowledges them. Written for children and adults ages 8+. Cover Art by Nikki Coffman. Teacher's Guide now available at author's lulu.com storefront.

Parenting is difficult under the best of circumstances--but extremely daunting when humanity faces cataclysmic annihilation. When the dead rise, hardship, violence and the ever-present threat of flesh-eating zombies will adversely affect parents and children alike. Depending on their age, children will have little chance of surviving a single encounter with the undead, let alone the unending peril of the Zombie Apocalypse. The key to their survival--and thus the survival of the species--will be the caregiving they receive. Drawing on psychological theory and real-world research on developmental status, grief, trauma, mental illness, and child-rearing in stressful environments, this book critically examines factors influencing parenting, and the likely outcomes of different caregiving techniques in the hypothetical landscape of the living dead.

From Legacy Media to Going Viral: Generational Media Use and Citizen Engagement examines how the prominent media available shapes each rising generation of citizens. The authors discuss how global and national events along with the media each generational group most frequently accessed defined these groups. Drawing on interdisciplinary social science insights into social media and civic and political engagement, the book contextualizes the civic and political rise of the Millennials and Gen Z with comparative insights from Gen X and the Baby Boomers. With a focus on emergent patterns of American citizenship, the authors examine issues such as a decline in social trust, new and sustained patterns of civic and political engagement and the continuing importance of political consumerism. Looking beyond the impact of media on youth and issues of civic and political generational change, this book explores how the media accessible to each American generation contributes to that generation’s collective experience, thus solidifying their civic and political attitudes. The book will be of interest to students and scholars concerned with civic and political engagement, political consumerism and media use, in the areas of media studies, advertising, communication, journalism, political science and sociology.

This memoir specifically highlights the experiences of a female of Indo-Guyanese decent growing up in the Midwest. Often confused for being an immigrant East Indian, Ashti offers a brief exposure to a thriving culture that is consistently overlooked. Ultimately, she aims to show others what it is like to be a West Indian living in the United States. As she explains her ethnic background, Ashti also covers the nuances of growing up Guyanesethe struggles she and others like herself face and the comical interactions they have all likely experienced. As it progresses, the book delves deeper into a theme of finding oneself. This occurs as the author reaches adulthood and makes discoveries that all millennials must make in their lifetime. Highly anecdotal, Growing Up Guyanese offers any reader regardless of ethnicity something to which he or she can relate.

"Growing Up Laughing: My Story and the Story of Funny is a book that only Marlo Thomas could write -- a smart and gracious, witty and confident autobiographical journey. For as long as Marlo Thomas can remember, she's lived with laughter. Born to comedy royalty--TV and nightclub star Danny Thomas--she grew up among legendary funny men, carved much of her career in comedy and, to this day, surrounds herself with people who love and live to make others laugh. In this long-awaited memoir, Thomas takes us on a funny and heartwarming adventure, from her Beverly Hills childhood, to her groundbreaking creation of That Girl and Free to Be . . . You and Me, to her rise as one of America's most beloved actress-comediennes, to her marriage to talk-show king Phil Donahue. Her youth was star-studded--Milton Berle performed magic tricks (badly) at her backyard birthday parties. George Burns, Bob Hope, Sid Caesar, Bob Newhart and other great comics passed countless hours gathered around her family's dinner table. And behind it all was the rich laughter nurtured by a close and loving family. Growing Up Laughing is not just the story of an iconic entertainer, but also the story of comedy. In a voice that is curious, generous and often gleeful, Thomas not only opens the doors on the funny in her own life, but also explores the comic roots of today's most celebrated comedians, in personal interviews with: Alan Alda, Joy Behar, Stephen Colbert, Billy Crystal, Tina Fey, Whoopi Goldberg, Kathy Griffin, Jay Leno, George Lopez, Elaine May, Conan O'Brien, Don Rickles, Joan Rivers, Chris Rock, Jerry Seinfeld, Jon Stewart, Ben and Jerry Stiller, Lily Tomlin, Robin Williams and Steven Wright.

McGuffey's Readers. Public school. Family prayers. In the 1800s, these were primary and successful strategies by which children learned to become Christians. Sunday school was developed to support what was already being done at home and in school. Today many churches still rely on the nineteenth-century model to encourage young people to become disciples of Christ. In Growing Up Christian, Dr. C. Ellis Nelson explores why these strategies are inadequate for the twenty-first century and offers practical, specific guidance for congregations who wish to nurture disciples of Christ more effectively. Part 1 describes the pattern of influences that form our images of God. Given the way culture and family influence the rising generation, Part 2 outlines a strategy for nurturing disciples that capitalizes on the persuasive power of the congregation in fellowship, worship, and instruction. A detailed discussion guide further assists congregations who wish to form a study group to assess and improve their Christian education.