Books for Families

Letting Go
by: Karen Levin Coburn & Madge Lawrence
This book provides guidance for the transition from high school to college.

When Your Kid Goes to College
by: Carol Barkin
This book provides support, reassurance and helpful tips for handling this inevitable but difficult separation.

Parental Concerns in College Student Mental Health
by: Leighton C. Whitaker
This book serves as a guide for parents about how your parent/child relationship will change while your child is at college. It also explains why the change occurs and provides suggestions on how to cope with this potentially difficult time.

You're On Your Own (but I'm here if you need me)
by: Majorie Savage
This book is written by the Director of the Parent Program at the University of Michigan. It addresses the months before your student will leave for college and the social and academic adjustments that your student will face. One feature of this book that is useful is the college calendar in the back; it highlights some of the issues that your student might face in each year of his/her college career.

Chicken Soup for the College Soul
by: Mary Catherine Bateson
A collection of stories that deals with the variety of emotions that incoming students experience.

Campus Life Exposed
by: Harlen Cohen
This book uses letters, stories from newspapers and online columns to answer questions one might have about college.

Empty Nest, Full Heart
by: Andrea Van Steenhouse
This book discusses the transition from high school to college and how to prepare the student as well as the parent.

When Kids go to College
by: Barbara & Phillip Newman
This book allows for students and parents to think about college as not only educational but also as a time for social and emotional discovery.

Don't Tell Me What to Do, Just Send Money
by: Helen Johnson & Christine Schelhas-Miller
This book contains useful tips on how to prepare you and your child on what to expect when they are getting ready to go off to college, what you can do to help your student adjust to the ‘norms' of the first-year experience, what you can do to adjust when you have just gotten used to the ‘empty nest' and your student comes home, and what you can expect from your student's university or college.