Books Written for or by TCKs

Don’t Pig Out on Junk Food: The MK’s Guide to Survival in the US by Alma Daughterty Gordon
This book contains great advice for young people returning to the United States from places around the World.

The Happy Room by Catherine Palmer
Drawn together by their sister’s tragic illness, each of the Mossman siblings must face the truth of their past. As they reminisce about both good and bad memories of their childhood in Africa, they discover the God who never left them.

Hidden in My Heart: A TCK’s Journey through Cultural Transition by Taylor Murray
Written as a series of individual prayers to God, Hidden in My Heart tells Taylor’s story as a third culture kid. As novelty of life overseas wore off, Taylor became overwhelmed with frustration, loneliness and the sorrow of leaving everything she knew—the States, her home, her extended family — for everything she didn’t know. These prayers are the result of a transparent journey — a journey where she unloads her grief and anger on God and finds Him willing to listen and bring her to a place of healing.

I Have to Be Perfect by Timothy L. Sanford
Through the sharing of personal experience, the author helps others understand PKs/MKs and for them to understand themselves.

Letters Never Sent, A Global Nomad’s Journey from Hurt to Healing by Ruth E. Van Reken
The author’s own story of her years growing up overseas via a series of letters she never wrote but wishes she had.

The Long Flight Home by Simeon Harrar
This is a fiction story about Stephen's adjustment to his home country after his parents suddenly have to leave Papua New Guinea. "Stephen’s journey is a tribute to third culture kids and global nomads around the world who know the pain of being uprooted and the struggle of making a new place feel like home."

Paper Airplanes in the Himalayas: The Unfinished Path Home by Paul Asbury Seaman
This unusual memoire revisits the ten years the author spent at Murree Christian School, where he was separated from his parents for six months of each year, then reflects on the legacy of such an upbringing.

Strangers At Home by Carolyn D. Smith, (Editor)
Essays on the effects of living overseas and coming “home” to a strange land.

Strongest in the Broken Places by Dan Harrison
Telling the story of his own recovery from a dysfunctional childhood, Dan Harrison shows how God can bring us from anger to forgiveness, insecurity to affirmation, compulsiveness to balance.

The Turtle of Oman by Naomi Shihab Nye
Aref Al-Amri does not want to leave Oman. He does not want to leave his elementary school, his friends, or his beloved grandfather, Siddi. He does not want to live in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where his parents will go to graduate school. His mother is desperate for him to pack his suitcase, but he refuses. Finally, she calls Siddi for help. But rather than pack, Aref and Siddi go on a series of adventures. This book could be helpful with children who are struggling with a move overseas for the first time.

When We Called Myanmar Home by Julie Jean Francis
A cross-cultural journey of joy, loss, grief, and hope. Her kids love their life in Myanmar. But what happens when Covid-19 comes to their neighborhood? What happens when the government changes? Will their life in Myanmar last forever?

General Books about TCKs

Annotations were borrowed from Amazon and Google.