Spilled Milk by Randis is about a child named Brooke Nolan. What do you think was the single most difficult challenge that Brooke faced? Do you agree with Brooke’s decision about Paul? The author wrote this book about her life. She’s a graduate of Pennsylvania State University and a certified expert in domestic violence.
Since she has written numerous local publications that brought awareness to domestic violence and child abuse. As a frequent commentator to media outlets, she has developed local high school presentations on teen dating violence.
Books like Spilled Milk show sensitive and challenging topics. These books provide insight into the complexities of such experiences, allowing readers to gain a deeper understanding of the emotions and struggles faced by survivors. They shed light on the need for support, resources, and advocacy for survivors, promoting dialogue and potentially inspiring you to take action in supporting those affected by similar situations.
5 Books Like Spilled Milk (Child Abuse)
In the book Spilled Milk, Brooke had to pick up her mom’s slack with responsibility. She was in an adult role from a very early age. Her childhood was a battle of survival in her way. As her character changes throughout this story, she gets stronger as an individual and learns who she is. Now I am going to talk about five books similar to Spilled Milk. Let’s go!
1. A Child Called It: One Child’s Courage to Survive
A Child Called It is about the author’s childhood from when he was four till about 12. The story details his abuse by his alcoholic mother. This is a challenging read, not in the sense that it was written. It’s very easy to follow. A child could easily pick up this book. The topics that Pelzer describes with child abuse neglect are horrifying. The author did a great job of telling readers that although he was going through all this child abuse and whatnot, he still found ways to find hope.
His father in the book was as bad as his mother because his mother abused him. But his father stood by passively and didn’t do anything to intervene. So that makes his father as bad as his mother. The book starts with his rescue. He’s at school. He gets called to the office. A couple of his teachers, a counselor, the school nurse, the principal, and the police officer drive him to the police station. That’s where the book starts. Then throughout, we get to see start at the good times before he’s abused when he’s about four years old.
As the book progresses, his mother and his abuse by his mother keep getting worse and worse as he gets older. Also, this book shocked me because David had several brothers who were only a couple of years younger than him. But his mother singled him out and abused him. So this book will open your eyes to the issue of child abuse and make you realize that this could be happening anywhere you don’t know. In that sense, this book is very thought-provoking, like Spilled Milk.
Author: Dave Pelzer
Average Rating: 4.8/5
Category: Child Abuse, Social Self-Help
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | Mass Market Paperback
2. The Pale-Faced Lie: A True Story
The Pale-Faced Lie is the true story of David Crow growing up on a Navajo Indian Reservation and all the hardships he endured, especially in childhood and throughout life. It’s very emotional and a page-turner similar to Spilled Milk. It has that sadness to it where it can be a little bit hard to read. You want to know what’s next for most of his childhood.
David lived with his three siblings and his parents on different Navajo Reservations. His mother’s severe mental problems caused her to be highly emotional and reckless with the children. A few parts were sad to read because of her recklessness. She couldn’t take care of her family besides cooking dinner, even though it was the same meal every night.
His father was hardly even a father, he worked, but he was abusive. He’s nothing compared to when you think of a father. He was abusive in every way you can imagine, physically, mentally, and emotionally to his children and wife.
Though she had mental problems, he didn’t care about getting her help. The only thing he cared about was getting rid of her. David was able to turn around his life in the way he did throughout the story. He recalls much of the abuse he had to endure from his father, but he also talks about some semi-happier times. The times that his dad seemed to be proud of him.
You will feel a lot of emotion throughout this book. David starts to come to a point where he thinks it won’t happen, or he’s at least hopeful that it won’t happen. But finally, one day, it did happen when David was a little older. His dad picked them up and left his wife behind. This was heartbreaking to read because David loves his mother as difficult as she could be and as much as his father complained about her.
A lot more happens in David’s life between this time and when he goes to college. He gets a new stepmother who is as bad as his father. She’s abusive and makes his life even more miserable than it already does. He does get bullied at school. He also has dyslexia, which makes him struggle in school more. But even though he did struggle, he was able to finish high school, and he even went on to graduate college despite his truly terrible childhood and adolescence.
Author: David Crow
Average Rating: 4.5/5
Category: Children’s Studies Social Science, Survival Biographies
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | Audio CD
3. What Happened to You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing
You can ask yourself a better question, which is the book’s title? What happened to you delving into the book? Oprah teamed up with Bruce. Bruce is not only a psychiatrist, but he’s also a neuroscientist. So he gives a very nice short to-point explanation about the brain’s structure, the ideas, and how our brain works halfway through the book. The title of the book and the subtitle are on-spot conversations on trauma, resilience, and healing.
One thing they share is neuroplasticity, our ability to change our brains. Dr. Perry shares a touching story about interviewing a three-year-old after a traumatic event. His sister was abducted before his eyes, and then she was killed. He was sent to talk to this cute Joseph. The way he communicates with the child and opens up a conversation gradually creates a connection, and he does it very fast. It’s not through weeks or months. It’s one meeting that he had with them, but snippets of five minutes interactions. He tells the story.
Like Spilled Milk, This book gives so much relevant information to implement quickly. When you have so many tools you can use with your child, this is not enough to access a therapist. It doesn’t start or end in a one-hour therapy session.
Author: Oprah Winfrey
Average Rating: 4.7/5
Category: Child Psychiatry & Abuse (Best Seller)
Available: Audiobook | Hardcover | Kindle | Audio CD
4. The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Adversity
The Deepest Well is about early childhood trauma as Spilled Milk. But Dr. Harris looks more at all the traumas a young person can be affected by before 18. She looks into the study called the ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences).
The two doctors conducted it, and these doctors were committed to understanding why specific health problems happen to people who have experienced more trauma. They were so committed to getting answers that they studied over 17000 families, making it a robust study.
They found that the more aces, which stands for adverse childhood experiences. The more their risk of developing a long-term illness, disease, mental health problems, and ultimately a shorter life, dying sooner and having more illnesses in life. Some people think the patriarchy is a lot about feminism, and it’s not that it has been built upon generations of subjugating weaker people.
So part of the patriarchy is corporal punishment toward children. Physical abuse is one risk factor. Many children grow up with a parent with mental health issues or a parent who is depressed. The ACEs found that 60 percent of society has at least one abusive family. So this is what we’re talking about on a massive scale: how important and relevant this is for us to study ACEs.
Narrator: Dr. Nadine Burke Harris
Average Rating: 4.7/5
Category: Children’s Studies Social Science, Medical Developmental Psychology
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle | Audio CD
5. Mothers Who Can’t Love: A Healing Guide for Daughters
Mothers Who Can’t Love is split into two main parts. Part one is about identifying the mother wound, and part two is about healing the mother wound. In part one, the mother’s wound is not the wounding we get from the mother. The mother’s wound is a collective trauma that we all hold. The author calls the section identifying the mother wound, but then in each chapter, and she covers the different types of unloving mothers are? What kinds of behaviors do they display? Then, she goes through a series of women she uses as examples to explain these points.
So it was less information about the mother’s wound and more general information about different types of abuse of mothers. First, she talks about the taboo of like, and you’re not supposed to say anything wrong about your mother. That was one of the more validating parts of the book. You read a book to be validated and then learn that was one of the more validating parts of the book. There were some excellent insights in there. The severely narcissistic mother, the different types of covered mothers, was not a covert narcissist that she focused on.
Then the overly enmeshed mother, the control freak mothers who need mothering mothers who neglect, betray, and batter. It was fantastic to see how the author split it into different types. She classified the behaviors of what the general descriptors are. Most of it is more of covert emotional abuse. You must read it after Spilled Milk.
Author: Susan Forward
Average Rating: 4.7/5
Category: Child Abuse & Dysfunctional Families
Available: Audiobook | Paperback | Hardcover | Kindle
These books offer hope, showing that even in the face of adversity, anyone can heal, grow, and rebuild their lives.
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