The Worlds Within

by Jo Parfitt, Eva László-Herbert and Rebecca Grappo

An anthology of TCK (third-culture kid) art and writing: young, global and between cultures.

Your mother is Swiss, your father is from the Philippines and you have so far lived in five countries, none of them your passport country. Who are you? Where are you from? Where is home? And what did you eat for breakfast? If you are a friend, this book will guide you. If you are a teacher, it will enlighten you. If you are a parent, it will spell it out for you and if you are an employer, it will convince you. Here they are, the cultural chameleons, the young global nomads, the TCKs - Third Culture Kids - from around the world, telling you their story. They gave us their words and art, so that finally there is a book BY them and not ABOUT them. "A wonderful and timely update to the TCK story as it continues to be lived out by a new generation. It answers the question of 'what is the same' and 'what is different' from the past generations of TCKs." Ruth Van Reken, author of Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds and Letters Never Sent. "A much needed book! This book gives children/adolescents a voice regarding their TCK experience, very touching, very poignant." Ryan Haynes, High School Counselor, International School Bangkok, www.isb.ac.th "To read this anthology is to reverberate our stories as a growing tribe. We echo one another. These youths' stories are mine, yours, ours." Myra Dumapias, MSW, CEO of TCKid, Building Cross Cultural Bridges, http://tckid.com "This poignant collection may make you laugh, may make you cry and, if you pay close enough attention, will provide you with deep insight into what it feels like to be a third culture kid." Ellen Mahoney, Founder & CEO, Sea Change Mentoring, www.seachangementoring.com "Just as Lennart Nilsson's spectacular photographs of developing embryos revolutionized our view of human life, so too will The Worlds Within shed light on the development of the TCK personality, from toddler to adult, and all from within the fluid of the TCK's own experience. A fascinating read." Douglas W. Ota, author of Safe Passage: What Mobility Does to People and What International Schools Should Do About It

I'm A Stranger Here Myself

Notes on returning to America after 20 years away
by Bill Bryson.

I first got hooked on Bill Bryson's humor and insights into cultural differences reading "A Walk Through the Woods". This book is really rich with insights about the differences between the US and Europe.

After living in Britain for two decades, Bill Bryson recently moved back to the United States with his English wife and four children (he had read somewhere that nearly 3 million Americans believed they had been abducted by aliens—as he later put it, "it was clear my people needed me"). They were greeted by a new and improved America that boasts microwave pancakes, twenty-four-hour dental-floss hotlines, and the staunch conviction that ice is not a luxury item. 

Delivering the brilliant comic musings that are a Bryson hallmark, I'm a Stranger Here Myself recounts his sometimes disconcerting reunion with the land of his birth. The result is a book filled with hysterical scenes of one man's attempt to reacquaint himself with his own country, but it is also an extended if at times bemused love letter to the homeland he has returned to after twenty years away.

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Global Mom

by Melissa Dalton-Bradford

After more than twenty years living internationally sixteen addresses, eight countries, and five different languages, writer Melissa Bradford shares a fantastic journey of motherhood that will inspire any family. 

Follow this family of six on their passage extraordinary, hilarious and heartbreakingly poignant from Bright Lights (of New York City) to the Northern Lights (of Norway) to the City of Light (Paris) to the speed-of-light of the Autobahn (in Munich). Continue deep into the tropics of Southeast Asia (Singapore) and end your voyage in the heights of the Swiss Alps (Geneva). 

As varied as the topography the craggy fjords, the meandering Seine, the black forests, the muggy tropics, the soaring Alps this multicultural tale traverses everything from giving birth in a château in Versailles to living on an island in a fjord. From singing jazz on national Norwegian T.V. to judging an Indonesian beauty contest. From navigating the labyrinth of French bureaucracy and the traffic patterns of Singapore to sitting around a big pine table where the whole family learns languages, cultures, cuisines where they, in short, learn to love this complex and diverse world and, most importantly, each other.

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Expat Teens Talk

Peers, parents and professionals offer support, advice and solutions in response to expat life challenges as shared by expat teens
by Lisa Pittman and Diana Smit Peers

This book is specifically targeted to expatriate teenagers and those who work with this unique population. It addresses the needs and different challenges that expat teens face throughout their lives (in particular, their adolescent years), and enables them to learn more about and understand that most of what they are going through and what they feel as a result of constant change in their lives is 'normal' and shared by many other expat teens worldwide. Expat teens, worldwide, shared with us their stories, questions, challenges, fears, and experiences. In return for their submissions, we provided them with support, advice, and solutions from the perspective of their fellow Expat Peers, as well as the perspective of other expat parents and expat professionals, as these are the three groups that expat teenagers most want to hear from. It is meant to be a 'dip in, dip out' book, as opposed to feeling like it has to be read from cover to cover. We hope to provide the tools and information that expat teens can use to empower themselves and their peers, worldwide.

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Expat Activity Book

by Jodi Harris

Twenty personal development exercises for gaining insight and maximizing your potential wherever you are.

Whether you’re a diplomat, a military family member, a recently returned volunteer, missionary, study abroad student or intern, The Expat Activity Book is designed to give you new tools and insight for personal growth. Written in an accessible, conversational style, The Expat Activity Book draws on author Jodi Harris’ years of experience as an expat, social worker and life coach. Each of the activities addresses a specific experience commonly faced by people who move from one country to another, including: understanding how to better live outside your comfort zone, cultivating awareness in the face of culture shock, developing community, preparing for transition, and many more. The self-paced activities can be revisited as needed and repeated any number of times. This book’s twenty activities will help you get unstuck, look at things anew and home in on what matters most to you…wherever you are.

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Between Worlds

Essays on culture and belonging
by Marilyn R. Gardner

A luminous guide for connecting -- and healing -- worlds. "In the hall of an old Inn by the ocean is a sign that reads 'Home is Where Our Story Begins.' But if home is where our story begins, what happens when we can't go back?" Marilyn Gardner was raised in Pakistan and went on to raise her own five children in Pakistan and Egypt before moving to small town New England. Between Worlds will resonate with those who have lived outside of their passport country, as well as those who have not. These essays explore the rootlessness and grief as well as the unexpected moments of humor and joy that are a part of living between two worlds. Between Worlds charts a journey between the cultures of East and West, the comfort of being surrounded by loved ones and familiar places, and the loneliness of not belonging. "Every one of us has been at some point between two worlds, be they faith and loss of faith, joy and sorrow, birth and death.

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Arrivals, Departures, and the Adventures in Between

by Christopher O'Shaughnessy

Lessons learned by someone who grew up in a variety of cultures.

Everyone's got a story to tell. If your story involves growing up among different cultures - either moving between them or having them move around you - then read this book. Growing up and transitioning cross-culturally can present unexpected challenges and bestow surprising skills. This is a book of adventures to help identify some of those challenges and use some of those skills in your own life - which is important because you've got more to contribute to the world than you realize.

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