This extensive list of recommended reading was made possible by many friends of Be a Part of the Conversation.
Feel free to suggest other publications that you believe would be helpful by sending us an email, and please include the book title, author, and suggested category.
*Recommended for those just getting started.
*Addict in the Family
by Beverly Conyers
*Everything Changes: Help for Families of Newly Recovering Addicts
by Beverly Conyers
*Alcoholics Anonymous: The Big Book, 4th Edition
by AA Services
Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence
by Dr. Anna Lembke
Recovery: Freedom from Our Addictions
by Russell Brand
The Chemical Carousel: What Science Tells us About Beating Addiction
by Dirk Hanson
In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction
by Gabor Mate
Beyond Addiction
by Jeffrey Foote, Carrie Wilkens, Nicole Kosanke
Loved One in Treatment? Now What! An Essential Handbook for Family Members and Friends Navigating the Path of a Loved One’s Addiction, Treatment and Recovery
by Lisa Frederiksen
Crossing the Line: From Alcohol Use to Abuse to Dependence
by Lisa Frederiksen
Addictive Thinking
by Abraham Twerski
Recover to Live: Kick Any Habit, Manage Any Addiction:
Your Self-Treatment Guide to Alcohol, Drugs, Eating Disorders, Gambling, Hoarding, Smoking, Sex, and Porn
by Christopher Kennedy Lawford
What Addicts Know: 10 Lessons from Recovery to Benefit Everyone
by Christopher Kennedy Lawford
Young, Sober & Free: Experience, Strength, and Hope for Young Adults
by Shelly Marshall
Why Don’t They Just Quit?
by by Joe Herzanek and Judy Herzanek
Passages Through Recovery: An Action Plan for Preventing Relapse
by Terence T. Gorski
When Your Teen is in Treatment: A Guide For Parents
Perkins & Perkins, 1990
Helping Your Chemically Dependent Teenager Recover. A Guide for Parents and Other Concerned Adults.
by Peter R. Cohen, 1991
Parenting for Prevention: How to Raise a Child to Say No to Alcohol/Drugs.
by David J. Wilmes, 1988
One Breath at a Time: Buddhism and the Twelve Steps
by Kevin Edward Griffin
The 12-Step Buddhist: Enhance Recovery from Any Addiction
by Darren Littlejohn
When Bad Things Happen to Good People
by Harold S. Kushner
The Spirituality of Imperfection: Storytelling and the Search for Meaning
by Ernest Kurtz and Katherine Ketcham
Get Your Loved One Sober. Alternatives to Nagging, Pleading, and Threatening.
Meyers & Wolfe
Reclaim Your Family From Addiction. How Couples and Families Recover Love and Meaning.
by Craig Nakken
Intervention
by Vernon Johnson
Stage II Recovery: Life Beyond Addiction
by Earnie Larsen
Weed, Inc.
by Ben Cort
Tell Your Children: The Truth About Marijuana, Mental Illness, and Violence Hardcover
by Alex Berenson
Marijuana: The Unbiased Truth about the World’s Most Popular Weed
by Kevin P. Hill
Marijuana Debunked: A handbook for parents, pundits and politicians who want to know the case against legalization.
by Ed Gogek
*Recommended for those just getting started.
*Codependent No More: How to Stop Controlling Others and Start Caring for Yourself
by Melody Beattie, 1986
*Codependent’s Guide to the Twelve Steps: How to Find the Right Program for You and Apply Each of the Twelve Steps to Your Own Issues
by Melody Beattie
*The Language of Letting Go
by Melody Beattie
Beyond Codependency
by Melody Beattie, 1986
Adult Children of Alcoholics
by Janet Geringer Woititz
Don’t Let Your Kids Kill You: A Guide for Parents of Drug and Alcohol Addicted Children
by Charles Rubin
Setting Boundaries with Your Adult Children: Six Steps to Hope and Healing for Struggling Parents
by Allison Bottke
Codependence. The Dance of the Wounded Souls
by Robert Burney
When Our Grown Kids Disappoint Us: Letting Go of Their Problems, Loving Them Anyway, and Getting on with Our Lives
by Jane Adams, PhD
Tending Dandelions: Honest Meditations for Mothers with Addicted Children
by Sandy Swenson
Courage to Change: One Day at a Time in Al-Anon II
by Al-Anon Family Group
Recovering Joy: A Mindful Life After Addiction Kindle Edition
by Kevin Griffin
If You Loved Me, You’d Stop! What You Really Need to Know When Your Loved One Drinks Too Much
by Lisa Frederiksen
Buzzed: The Straight Facts About the Most Used and Abused Drugs from Alcohol to Ecstasy
by Cynthia Kuhn, PhD; Scott Swarzwelder, PhD; and Wilkie Wilson, PhD
Getting Tough on Gateway Drugs: A Guide for the Family.
by Robert L. Dupont
The Selfish Brain: Learning from Addiction
by Robert L. DuPont; Forward by Betty Ford
Boundaries – Updated and Expanded Edition: When to Say Yes, How to Say No To Take Control of Your Life
by Henry Cloud & John Townsend
High: Everything You Want to Know About Drugs, Alcohol, and Addiction
by David Sheff & Nic Sheff
Why Don’t They Just Quit? What Families and Friends Need to Know About Addiction and Recovery
by Joe Herzanek
Love First: A Family’s Guide to Intervention
by Jeff Jay & Debra Jay
Under the Influence: A Guide to the Myths and Realities of Alcoholism
by James Robert Milam and Katherine Ketcham
Choices & Consequences: What To Do When a Teenager Uses Drugs/Alcohol, A Step-by-Step System That Really Works.
by Dick Schaefer and Pamela Espeland
I’ve Got This Friend Who: Advice for Teens and Their Friends on Alcohol, Drugs, Eating Disorders, Risky Behavior and More
by America’s Teens & the Experts at KidsPeace. Edited by Anna Radev
Yes, Your Teen Is Crazy! Loving Your Kid Without Losing Your Mind.
by Michael Bradley
The Case Against Homework: How Homework is Hurting Children and What Parents Can Do About It
by Sara Bennett
The Battle Over Homework: Common Ground for Administrators, Teachers and Parents
by Harris Cooper
The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Think
by Alfie Kohn
The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure
by Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff
Punished by Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A’s, Praise, and Other Bribes
by Alfie Kohn
Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About Colleges
by Loren Pope
The Last Lecture
by Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow
The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice are Undermining Education
by Diane Ravitch
High Schools on a Human Scale: How Small Schools Can Transform American Education
by Thomas Toch
“The Character Test,” NYTimes Magazine, 9/18/11, p. 38
(alternative title: “What if the Secret to Success is Failure?”)
>> Click here for link.
by Paul Tough
Waiting for Superman: How We Can Save America’s Failing Public Schools
by Karl Weber
Long Bright River
by Liz Moore
Addiction on Trial: Tragedy in Downeast Maine
by Steven Kassels
The Bridge Club: A Novel Kindle Edition
by Patricia Sands
Requiem for a Dream
by Hubert Selby, Jr.
The Spectacular Now
by Tim Tharp
Life After the Death of My Son: What I’m Learning
by Dennis L. Apple
I Am Your Disease: The Many Faces of Addiction
by Sheryl Letzgus McGinnis
One-Way Ticket: Our Son’s Addiction to Heroin
by Rita Lowenthal
Life Between Falls, A Travelogue Through Grief and the Unexpected
by Julie Lange
Beyond Tears: Living After Losing a Child
by Carol, Barkin, Audrey Cohen, Lorenza Colletti, Barbara Eisenberg, Barbara J. Goldstein, Madelaine Perri Kasden, Phyllis Levine, Ariella Long and Rita Volpe, in collaboration with Ellen Mitchell
How to Survive the Worst That Can Happen: A Parent’s Step by Step Guide to Healing After the Loss of a Child
by Sandy Peckinpah
Healing After Loss: Daily Meditations For Working Through Grief
by Martha Whitmore Hickman
The Bereaved Parent
by Harriet Sarnoff Schiff
Losing Jonathan
by Robert Waxler and Linda Waxler
When the Bough Breaks: Forever After the Death of a Son or Daughter
by Judith R. Bernstein
From a Grieving Mother’s Heart
by Terri Ann Leidich
When a Child Dies from Drugs: Practical Help for Parents in Bereavement
by Pat Wittberger and Russ Wittberger
My Daughter’s Addiction: A Thief in the Family – Hardwired for Heroin
by Marie Minnich
From My Heart: Expressions of a Grieving Mother
by Lisa McCann
Living When a Loved One Has Died
by Earl A. Grollman
Books for children:
Badger’s Parting Gifts (ages 4 through 8)
by Susan Varley
I Miss You: A First Look at Death (ages 4 and up)
by Pat Thomas
The Next Place (ages 5 and up)
by Warren Hanson
When Someone Very Special Dies: Children Can Learn to Cope with Grief (ages 9 through 12)
by Marge Heegaard
When Your Adult Child Breaks Your Heart: Coping With Mental Illness, Substance Abuse, And The Problems That Tear Families Apart
by Joel Young, MD, with Christine Adamec
Behind Happy Faces. Taking Charge of Your Mental Health. A Guide for Young Adults.
by Ross Szabo, Melanie Hall
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma Paperback – September 8, 2015
by Bessel van der Kolk M.D.
The Bipolar Child: The Definitive and Reassuring Guide to Childhood’s Most Misunderstood Disorder
by Demitri Papolos, MD and Janice Papolos
The Bipolar Teen: What You Can Do to Help Your Child and Your Family
by David J. Miklowitz and Elizabeth L. George
An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness
by Kay Redfield Jamison
Stop Walking on Eggshells: Taking Your Life Back When Someone You Care About Has Borderline Personality Disorder
by Paul Mason MS and Randi Kreger
I Am Not Sick I Don’t Need Help: How to Help Someone with Mental Illness Accept Treatment
by Xavier Amador
Overcoming Perfectionism
by Ann W. Smith
Detour: My Bipolar Road Trip in 4-D
by Lizzie Simon
Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls
by Mary Pipher
The Anger Workbook for Teens: Activities to Help You Deal With Anger and Frustration
by Raychelle Cassada Lohmann
The Lost Boy: A Foster Child’s Search for the Love of a Family
by Dave Pelzer
The Explosive Child: A New Approach for Understanding and Parenting Easily Frustrated, Chronically Inflexible Children
by Ross W. Greene
Why Gender Matters: What Parents and Teachers Need to Know about the Emerging Science of Sex Differences
by Leonard Sax M.D., Ph.D.
ADHD Nation: Children, Doctors, Big Pharma, and the Making of an American Epidemic
by Alan Schwarz
Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America
by Beth Macy
If You Love Me: A Mother’s Journey Through Her Daughter’s Opioid Addiction
by Maureen Cavanagh
Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic
by Sam Quinones
The Addiction Inoculation: Raising Healthy Kids in a Culture of Dependence
by Jessica Lahey
The Teenage Brain: A Neuroscientist’s Survival Guide to Raising Adolescents and Young Adults
by Frances E. Jensen, MD with Amy Ellis Nutt
The Parent’s 20 Minute Guide
by The Center for Motivation and Change
Raising Happiness: 10 Simple Steps for More Joyful Kids and Happier Parents
by Christine Carter
The Grandfamily Guidebook: Wisdom & Support for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren
by Andrew Adesman, MD and Christine Adamec
Grandparents as Parents, Second Edition: A Survival Guide for Raising a Second Family
by Sylvie de Toledo & Deborah Edler Brown
The Price of Privilege: How Parental Pressure and Material Advantage Are Creating a Generation of Disconncted and Unhappy Kids
By Madeline Levine, Ph.D.
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother
by Amy Chua
Adolescent Drug & Alcohol Abuse
by Nikki Babbit
Yes, Your Teen Is Crazy! Loving Your Kid Without Losing Your Mind.
by Michael Bradley
7 Things Your Teenager Won’t Tell You: And How to Talk About Them Anyway
by Jenifer Marshall Lippincott
Letting Go With Love and Confidence: Raising Responsible, Resilient, Self-sufficient Teens in the 21st Century
by Kenneth Ginsburg
Building Resilience in Children and Teens: Giving Kids Roots and Wings
by Kenneth Ginsburg
Less Stress, More Success: A New Approach to Guiding Your Teen Through College Admissions and Beyond
by Marilee Jones & Kenneth Ginsburg
Unconditional Parenting: Moving From Rewards and Punishments to Love and Reason
by Alfie Kohn
The Blessing of a B Minus: Using Jewish Teachings to Raise Resilient Teenager
by Wendy Mogel
Staying Connected to Your Teenager: How To Keep Them Talking to You and How To Hear What They’re Really Saying
by Michael Riera
Motivated Minds: Raising Children To Love Learning
by Deborah Stipek
Positive Pushing: How To Raise a Successful and Happy Child
by Jim Taylor
The Good School: How Smart Parents Get Their Kids the Education They Deserve
by Peg Tyre
The Hurried Child: Growing Up Too Fast Too Soon
by David Elkind
The Power of Play: How Spontaneous, Imaginative Activities Lead to Happier, Healthier Children
by David Elkind
Under Pressure: Rescuing Our Children From the Culture of Hyper-Parenting
by Carl Honoré
Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder
by Richard Louv
Revolution in the Bleachers: How Parents Can Take Back Family Life in a World Gone Crazy Over Youth Sports
by Regan McMahon
The Reading Promise: My Father and the Books We Shared
by Alice Ozma
Simplicity Parenting: Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier and More Secure Kids
by Kim Payne
The Over-Scheduled Child: Avoiding the Hyper-Parenting Trap
by Alvin Rosenfeld
Standing in the Storm
>> Find it here. Compiled by Pam & Bill Roberts.
Setting Boundaries with Your Adult Children
by Allison Bottke
Everything Changes: Help for Families of Newly Recovering Addicts
by Beverly Conyers
It’s Not About You Except When It Is
by Barbara Victoria
If You Love Me: A Mother’s Journey Through Her Daughter’s Opioid Addiction
by Maureen Cavanagh
The Power of Praying for Your Adult Children
by Stormie Omartian
The Parent’s 20 Minute Guide
by The Center for Motivation and Change
Between Breaths: A Memoir of Panic and Addiction
by Elizabeth Vargas
Under Our Roof: A Son’s Battle for Recovery, a Mother’s Battle for Her Son
Madeleine Dean and Harry Cunnane
American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot
by Craig Ferguson
Beautiful Boy
by David Sheff
The Joey Song
by Sandy Swenson
The Big Fix: Hope After Heroin
by Tracey Helton Mitchell
Stay Close: A Mother’s Story of Her Son’s Addiction
by Libby Cataldi
Broken: My Story of Addiction and Redemption
by William Cope Moyers and Katherine Ketcham
Dry. A Memoir.
by Augusten Burroughs
If You Love Me: A Mother’s Journey Through Her Daughter’s Opioid Addiction
by Maureen Cavanagh
Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction
by Maia Szalavitz
The Lost Years: Surviving a Mother and Daughter’s Worst Nightmare
by Kristina Wandzilak
Symptoms of Withdrawal
by Christopher Kennedy Lawford
Moments of Clarity
by Christopher Kennedy Lawford
An Unquiet Mind
by K. Redfield Jamison
Beyond Belief
by Josh Hamilton
Come Back: A Mother and Daughter’s Journey Through Hell and Back
by Claire and Mia Fontaine
Trilogy: The Liars’ Club | Cherry | Lit
by Mary Karr
Detour: My Bipolar Road Trip in 4-D
by Lizzie Simon
My Name is Bill (Biography of Bill Wilson, founder of Alcoholics Anonymous)
by Susan Cheever
Hit Hard: A Story of Hitting Rock Bottom at the Top
by Joey Kramer (of Aerosmith)
The Tender Bar
by J.R. Moehringer
The Glass Castle: A Memoir
by Jeannette Walls
Basketball Junkie
by Chris Herren
Unwasted: My Lush Sobriety
by Sacha Z. Scoblic
Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines
by Nick Sheff
Wishful Drinking
by Carrie Fisher
Wishes and Worries: Coping with a Parent Who Drinks Too Much Alcohol
Center for Addiction & Mental Health
Critters Cry Too: Explaining Addiction to Children
by Anthony Curcio
Explaining Addiction for Kids
by Tracy Bryan
An Elephant In the Living Room The Children’s Book
by Jill M. Hastings, MS and Marion H. Typpo, PhD
The Queen Who Saved Herself: A story to help children understand addiction
by Fiona Purcell
Too Much Of A Good Thing…A Kid’s Guide To Understanding Addiction
by Tracy Bryan
My Dad Loves Me. My Dad Has a Disease. A child’s view of living with addiction.
by Claudia Black, PhD
But It’s Just a Game (about gaming addiction)
by Julia Cook
The Sofa Sloths (encourages screen-free activities)
by Miriam Kay
Up and Down the Mountain: Helping Children Cope with Parental Alcoholism
by Pamela Leib Higgins
Mom’s Addiction: Helping Children Understand Addiction
by Carolyn Hannan Bell
Dad’s Addiction: Helping Children Understand Addiction
by Carolyn Hannan Bell
My Dad is a Drug Addict
by Barnetta Sanford
The Wisdom Tree (Helping Young Children Understand Addiction In Families)
by David & Andrew Kempf
Addictions Workbook for Children: for parents and teachers too.
by Michael R. Basso
The Addiction Monster & the Square Cat
by Sheryl Letzgus McGinnis
Mommy’s Coming Home from Treatment
by Denise D. Crosson, PhD
Watching My Parents Disappear: Teens Write about Addiction in the Family
edited by Laura Longhine
Teens Affected by Addiction: Stories and Advice from people who have grown up with an addict.
by Mount Mercy College
For Teenagers Living With a Parent Who Abuses Alcohol/Drugs
by Edith Lynn Hornik-Beer
Beneath a Meth Moon (for ages 12 and up)
Jacqueline Woodson
Go Ask Alice (for ages 12 and up)
by Anonymous
When a Family is in Trouble: Children Can Cope with Grief from Drug and Alcohol Addiction
by Marge Heegaard
Help! My Friend’s in Trouble!: Supporting Your Friends Who Struggle With . . . Family Problems, Sexual Crises, Food Addictions, Self-Esteem, Depression, Grief, and Loss
by Susie Shellenberger
Hey, Kiddo: How I Lost My Mother, Found My Father, and Dealt with Family Addiction
by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
Life Happens: A Teenager’s Guide to Friends, Sexuality, Love, Rejection, Addiction, Peer Press ure, Families, Loss, Depression, Change & Other Challenges of Living
Kathy McCoy, PhD and Charles Wibbelsman, MD
I’ve Got This Friend Who: Advice for Teens and Their Friends on Alcohol, Drugs, Eating Disorders, Risky Behavior and More
by America’s Teens & the Experts at KidsPeace. Edited by Anna Radev
Be Honest: And Other Advice from Students Across the Country
by Ninive Calegari
Harvard, Schmarvard: Getting Beyond the Ivy League to the College That is Best for You
by Jay Mathews
The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids
by Alexandra Robbins
Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic (a young adult adaptation)
by Sam Quinones
Josh and ZZ: A Sibling Story on Addiction
by Annie Chute Hernandez
The Shadow Child: Living with a Sibling’s Addiction
by Ashleigh Nowakowski
It Will Never Happen to Me: Growing Up with Addiction as Youngsters, Adolescents, and Adults
by Claudia Black
Sober Siblings: How to Help Your Alcoholic Brother or Sister-and Not Lose Yourself
by Patricia Olsen
Sister Siren: A Non Fiction About Addiction
by Michaela K. Canterbury
The Worst Thing: A Sister’s Journey Through her Brother’s Addiction and Death
by A. M. Young
Addict in the House: A No-Nonsense Family Guide Through Addiction and Recovery
by Robin Barnett EdD LCSW
Fiction:
Long Bright River
by Liz Moore
For Young Readers:
Josh and ZZ: A Sibling Story on Addiction
by Annie Chute Hernandez
