Little Brave Hearts: Trauma Series (A–Z) Title Summaries

Each book in the Trauma Series addresses a real emotional hardship or lived experience that many children carry, yet few have the language or support to name. These stories hold space for grief, rupture, fear, shame, and survival, always paired with care, clarity, and self-worth. Each book aligns with multiple skills taught from the Healing Series, forming a mirrored emotional ecosystem designed to empower children and reconnect families.

A – Abandonment: Learning to Trust Again
Skill: Rebuilding emotional trust when someone important disappears.
Why it matters: Abandonment leaves invisible scars. This story helps children name their hurt and learn to trust safe relationships again.

B – Bullying: Choosing Kindness Over Cruelty
Skill: Recognizing harm, standing up for self and others.
Why it matters: Bullying teaches shame unless interrupted. This story gives children language, agency, and compassionate courage.

C – Control: When Everything Feels Out of My Hands
Skill: Releasing control and reclaiming inner calm.
Why it matters: Children often feel helpless in chaotic homes. This story grounds them in what can be chosen—breath, voice, pause.

D – Disasters: When the World Feels Upside Down
Skill: Finding safety after external chaos.
Why it matters: Natural disasters and life upheavals leave emotional residue. This story stabilizes the internal world when the outer one collapses.

E – Emotional Neglect: Finding Love Within
Skill: Tending to unmet emotional needs.
Why it matters: When love was absent or inconsistent, children internalize unworthiness. This story restores that connection inside.

F – Foster Care: Finding My Place
Skill: Navigating identity, belonging, and placement transitions.
Why it matters: Foster care carries grief, loss, and change. This story honors that journey with dignity and hope.

G – Grief and Loss: Healing My Heart
Skill: Feeling and remembering after losing someone or something beloved.
Why it matters: Grief doesn’t need fixing. This book walks beside children through waves of sadness with warmth and witnessing.

H – Homelessness: Finding Hope Without a Home
Skill: Reframing safety and identity outside of place.
Why it matters: Displacement can fracture the world. This story anchors hope in belonging beyond walls.

I – Illness: Finding Strength When Health Is Hard
Skill: Emotional resilience through physical hardship.
Why it matters: Illness changes routines and relationships. This story teaches children how to adapt with inner power and softness.

J – Jars of Silence: When Grown-Ups Are Struggling
Skill: Understanding emotional absence and hardship.
Why it matters: Children sense adult pain. This story helps them name what isn’t said and release guilt that isn’t theirs.

K – Keeping Secrets: When I’m Afraid to Speak Up
Skill: Naming fears and finding strength in self-advocacy.
Why it matters: Secrets are heavy. This story models how to recognize safe people and share what’s been hidden.

L – Loneliness: Finding Comfort When I Feel Alone
Skill: Creating connections within and beyond.
Why it matters: Loneliness shapes identity. This story helps children see that they are never truly invisible.

M – Moving: Carrying My Strength Wherever I Go
Skill: Adapting while keeping core self intact.
Why it matters: New places trigger loss. This story honors grief and helps kids feel strong through change.

N – Needs Ignored: Finding My Worth When I Felt Invisible
Skill: Reclaiming voice and asking for help.
Why it matters: When needs go unmet, children learn to disappear. This book reawakens self-worth and advocacy.

O – Ostracism: Knowing My Value When I’m Left Out
Skill: Holding self-worth amid rejection.
Why it matters: Social pain is real pain. This story helps children find internal belonging when their peers exclude them.

P – Poverty: Finding Hope When Times Are Tough
Skill: Separating worth from wealth.
Why it matters: Poverty teaches shame. This story offers dignity, imagination, and community connection.

Q – Quirks and Questions: Loving What Makes Me Unique
Skill: Embracing difference as strength.
Why it matters: Neurodivergence, identity, and curiosity deserve celebration. This book makes room for wonder.

R – Rejection: Discovering My Value When I’m Left Out
Skill: Restoring self after emotional hurt.
Why it matters: Rejection tells kids they're unworthy. This story challenges the lie with truth and tenderness.

S – Separation: Loving My People, Even When We’re Apart
Skill: Staying connected through absence and resilience when that’s difficult.
Why it matters: Divorce, deployment, or distance can fracture love. This book keeps love rooted, even through change.

T – Tough Times: Finding Peace After Pain
Skill: Trusting that healing is possible.
Why it matters: When everything hurts, children need reminders that peace can still return. This story carries them there.

U – Unwanted Changes: Finding Comfort When Life Feels Different
Skill: Adapting to new realities.
Why it matters: Change often feels like loss. This story helps children orient themselves inside shifting worlds.

V – Very Scary: Finding Peace When I Feel Unsafe
Skill: Naming fear and rebuilding safety.
Why it matters: Whether from natural disaster, social trauma or tension, fear changes the body. This book offers nervous system support and grounding.

W – Words That Wound: When Language Hurts Our Hearts
Skill: Healing from verbal harm.
Why it matters: Words become wounds—or wings. This story helps children rewrite the stories they’ve been told.

X – eXcluded: Staying Proud of Who I Am
Skill: Holding identity when shunned and creating safe community for self.
Why it matters: Exclusion breeds shame. This story holds space for pride, self-love, and chosen community.

Y – Yelling: Staying Peaceful When Others Are Upset
Skill: Staying grounded amid dysregulation.
Why it matters: Yelling disrupts safety. This story teaches children how to stay rooted and co-regulate through intensity.

Z – Zipped Up: Speaking My Truth in a Quiet House
Skill: Finding voice in environments that silence.
Why it matters: Silence isn’t always peace. This book models brave truth-telling in places where emotions were once hidden.