LIVING ABROAD
- Gopnik, A., Paris to the Moon, Random House, New York, New York, 2000. A personal, good-humored account of one young family living abroad. Much of this was originally published in the New Yorker.
- Jehle-Caitcheon, Ngaire, Parenting Abroad, Aletheia Publications, Putnam Valley, New York, 2003. Written by a expatriate who lived abroad for twenty-six years, this guide provides useful insights on the many and complicated issues that arise as one raises children abroad.
- Kalb, Rosalind and Welch, Penelope, Moving Your Family Overseas, Intercultural Press , Inc., Yarmouth, Maine, 1992. The authors of this book are Americans who draw on their personal experiences to balance general advice and detailed suggestions as they explore the major issues in raising children in the internationally mobile lifestyle. .
- Meltzer, Gail and Grandjean, Elaine, The Moving Experience: A Practical Guide to Pyschological Survival, Multilingual Matters, Ltd. , Cleveland, England, 1989. This book gives practical suggestions for surviving the psychological stresses and challenges of moving for both local and international moves.
- McCluskey, Karen C., ed., Notes from a Traveling Childhood, Foreign Service Youth Foundation , Washington, D.C., 1994. This paperback is an anthology of writings by parents, children, educators, researchers, and mental health professionals about the effects of international mobility on children.
- Parker Elizabeth and Rumrill-Teece Katharine, Here Today There Tomorrow, A Training Manual for Working with Internationally Mobile Youth, Foreign Service Youth Foundation , Washington, D.C., 2001. This manual is designed to help facilitators provide a framework for mobile teenagers to interact with each other and to deal with relocation and cross-cultural issues that affect their identity and worldview.
- Pollack, David C. and Van Reken, Ruth, The Third Culture Kid Experience, Intercultural Press, Inc. , Yarmouth, Maine, 1999. Based on both research and the personal stories of countless individuals, this book fully explores the various implications of growing up abroad as a “Third Culture Kid.” The authors are internationally considered to be leaders and experts in the field of TCK studies.
- Seaman, Paul Asbury, Paper Airplanes in the Himalayas – the Unfinished Path Home, Cross Cultural Publications, Inc., South Bend, Indiana, 1997. (/ ) An autobiographical account by a “Third Culture Kid” of his journey from his childhood in Pakistan, to boarding school for missionary kids to the struggle in his adult years to find a sense of belonging. It recounts the author’s struggle to come to terms with his overseas experience.
- Taber, Sara M, Of Many Lands, Journal of a Traveling Childhood, Foreign Service Youth Foundation , Washington, D.C., 1997. A journal for people brought up in foreign countries. It is designed as a learning and exploration tool to help those of many lands in the long process of putting together the stories of their lives. It consists of excerpts that describe experiences the author had at different ages in different countries, followed by prompts or questions designed to evoke the reader’s own life experiences.
- Westphal, C., A Family Year Abroad: How to Live Outside the Borders, Great Potential Press , 2002. This paperback book is part narrative of a family’s year abroad and part instruction manual for individuals and families considering spending an extended period outside their country.
- www.talesmag.com , Tales from a Small Planet with information on countries, schools, etc.
Returning Home
- Copeland, Anne (Ph.D.) and Bennett, Georgia, Understanding American Schools: The Answers to Newcomer’s Most Frequently Asked Question, The Interchange Institute , Brookline, Massachusetts, 2001. This book guides newcomers to the United States, or those who have been abroad for a long time, about the challenges of understanding the U.S. school system. Foreign born spouses might find this book especially helpful. info@interchangeinstitute.org.
- Eakin, Kay Branaman, Bouncing Back , Global Community Liaison Office, Department of State, Washington, D.C., 2013. This book is an updated and revised version of According to my Passport, I’m Coming Home, and addresses the challenges faced by children returning “home” from another country and discusses their transitional and reentry needs.
- Smith, Carolyn, Strangers at Home: Essays on the Effects of Living Overseas and Coming “Home” to a Strange Land, Aletheia Publications, Putnam, New York, 1996. The editor of this book is a Foreign Service spouse who understands well the full implications of the internationally nomadic lifestyle. The compilations of essays by others who have been through it offer many insights, as well as practical suggestions for helping children – especially teenagers – to adjust.