I Know the World's Worst Secret: A Child's Book about Living with an Alcoholic Parent (Hurts of Childhood Series)

Elizabeth, the daughter of an alcoholic mother, tries to carry the burden of taking care of the family. Includes guidelines for adults to help children of alcoholics.

ea. vol: illus. by Graci Evans. unpaged. CIP. Multnomah Pr. 1987. PSm $6.95. Kindergarten-Grade 4 These two books are weak at tempts to bring helpful information about teenage drug abuse and parental alcoholism to young audiences. I Can Say No is well meaning but lacking in story line. Disjointed segments show the pain and confusion of a family when an older child becomes involved in drugs. The thrust of this book is that parents must assert control over children, and indeed the message at the back of the book is addressed specifically to par ents. I Know the World's Worst Secret is told by ten-year-old Elizabeth, who is the only one in her family who can admit that her mother is an alcoholic. Elizabeth has a doll named Friend, who supplies her with information on alcoholism and tells her ``Right now, your mother is not capable of loving you, or herself.'' While the basic messages are accurate and the portrayal of Elizabeth's pain is realistic, the ``story'' is severely disjointed. On one page Friend encourages Elizabeth to tell a trusted adult, on the next, her moth er has nearly killed an old man in a traffic accident. Both books are illustrated in colored pencil. On the last pages, trou bled youngsters are encouraged to write to the author and illustrator because ``We would like to share God's love with you.'' Children who write receive scrip ture verses and a personal note, but nei ther counseling nor referral. Children who would benefit from books on these topics will not find enough help here. Carolyn Polese, Gateway Community School, Arcata, Calif.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.