Falling to Pieces: Navigating the Transition to Middle School and Merging Friends

Falling to Pieces is written and illustrated by kids and part of Reflections Publishing's "Kids Helping Kids Through Books" series. Falling to Pieces addresses the transition of moving from elementary school to middle school and how to merge new and old friends during the process. The fiction stories in this series are written and illustrated from the fresh perspective of kids. With the stories written by child authors, child readers who are going through a difficult time can read these stories and have their feelings validated. By connecting with the children through a fiction story, it simply provides a start for the healing process. Because true healing requires a broad focus on emotional, educational, social, and even spiritual needs, this series also provides a non-fiction section for children (and parents) with the tools they need to navigate through these situations. Specifically, at the back of each book in this series, readers will find commentaries for dealing with difficult situations from experts in various fields (e.g., child psychologists, educators, therapists, and religious scholars). We believe this series will provide children with valuable tools to assist them in dealing with many real-life challenges. Description of Falling to Pieces: Can friendship survive the transition from elementary school to middle school? Best friends Erica Ramirez and Jessica Johnson, who had known each other since first grade, began to wonder. Through the end of sixth grade, the girls had been constantly together, and they often wrote in a special journal that Erica had brought from her native country of Brazil. Over the summer, they purchased a new journal to symbolize the next chapter in their lives-going off to middle school. However, on the first day of school, Erica and Jessica discovered that they didn't have any classes together, and it wasn't long before their friendship began to unravel. Follow the girls through seventh grade as they learn to resolve their differences and merge the past with the present. Reviews: "A unique series for children, by children." -Booklist "Offering kid-authored stories on tough topics like divorce, fear, bullying, and peer pressure, Reflections Publishing opens communication to assist families emotionally, socially, and spiritually. These books are not only fun to read, they're also filled with expert advice, tips, and tools on how to navigate life's most difficult challenges. Must-haves for every family's library, these books are treasures that children and parents can refer to again and again." -Ken Blanchard, coauthor of The One Minute Manager ® and Whale Done Parenting "Falling to Pieces should be a relevant handbook for all tweens heading off to middle school, a time of many challenging transitions. Written in an authentic and relatable voice, the story eloquently helps tweens realize that they aren't alone in their everyday feelings and struggles and provides them with useful advice to help navigate through middle school." -Mary Anne Fuchs, M. D., F. A. C. E. P. "Falling to Pieces is an eloquently written book that not only gives validation, comfort, and a voice to our tweens, but also clear guidance to those who support them through the inevitable struggles of balancing social and academic worlds. Another must-read by the child authors at Reflections Publishing!" -Lynn Dubenko, Ph. D., Child/Family Psychologist