Books Exploring Difficult Family Dynamics

As the holiday season draws near and the year comes to a close, it is hard to avoid the emphasis on family and how families “should” look and act. Whether you enjoy large gatherings with extended family, prefer to avoid the holidays at all costs or anything in between, one way to combat this one, Hallmark-esque idea of family is to delve into narratives that show us that every family looks different and that some of our tightest bonds can be found outside the home. Here are four titles that explore found-families, difficult family dynamics and finding solace in family even when times are tough.

The Wilderness of Girls tells us the story of Rhi, a teen in foster care who encounters and befriends a group of wild girls in the forest. The girls, as they tell it, are princesses from another land who need to return to their kingdom and hope to bring Rhi with them. Throughout the novel, it becomes increasingly difficult for Rhi to figure out what is real and what is fantasy, but this doesn’t stop her from feeling bonded to her new companions.

In How Do I Draw These Memories?, Jonell Joshua tells us the story of how she and her family found hope even in difficult circumstances. Jonell’s family moved between states, staying with relatives while her mother struggled with mental illness, but managed to focus on and celebrate the love they shared.

What We Wish For follows Layla as she experiences her mother’s addiction, homelessness and the struggle of keeping these things hidden. As Layla works through these circumstances, she feels completely desperate and reluctantly reaches out to her rich aunt and uncle, whom she and her mother have a difficult relationship with. When Layla’s aunt and uncle try to get her mom into rehab and Layla is sent to live with them, it seems that she’ll finally have some more stability in her life until her family’s secrets start to come out.

She Is A Haunting tells the story of Jade and her summer spent staying with her estranged father in his run-down and potentially haunted house in Vietnam. As Jade, her father and her younger sister fix up the house so it can become a bed and breakfast, Jade and her father’s relationship becomes even more strained. She must lean heavily on her sister, her new friend, and herself in order to survive the summer and, maybe, keep her family together.