100 books like Deployment

By Karen Petty,

Here are 100 books that Deployment fans have personally recommended if you like Deployment. Shepherd is a community of 10,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Momma's Boots

Jerilyn Marler Author Of Lily Hates Goodbyes

From my list on military families dealing with deployment.

Why am I passionate about this?

I know the pain of separations. Navy doctor father. Missionary kid at boarding school in India. Military wife. Military mother. Separations suck. So when my three-year-old grandchild Lily struggled with her daddy’s deployment in 2010, I felt her pain. I composed the story and used personal photos to illustrate Lily Hates Goodbyes. Whenever we read about book Lily’s emotions, my Lily would say, “Just like me!” Wanting other children to have this cathartic experience, I hired Nathan Stoltenberg, a brilliant illustrator, and self-published the book. It’s available in a Navy version and an All Military version—the only difference is daddy’s uniform. Book Lily is a friend to young military children around the world. 

Jerilyn's book list on military families dealing with deployment

Jerilyn Marler Why did Jerilyn love this book?

While most deployed service members are male, women serve and are deployed, too. I honor their contribution by including this touching book. When Momma puts on her military boots, little Bean grapples with questions of why and where and how long. Momma describes her work with references to other kinds of work that Bean understands. It’s a sweet conversation that provides a broader context for military work and assurance that Momma will return.

By Sandra Miller Linhart, Tahna Marie Desmond (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Momma's Boots as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This award-winning deployment book for kids is a favorite of all major military branches: Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Coast Guard, National Guard, and Reserves in military books and best deployment books for children.The illustrator has masterfully drawn the lovable and relatable characters to be racially non-specific; Bean is non-gender specific, as well. It's Boot's task to take Mommy where she's needed, but it's Momma's job to explain why.When Momma puts on her boots, Bean knows it's time to say good-bye, and maybe for a long time. What does Momma do when she goes? Do the other mommies wear boots…


Book cover of When You Are Away

Jerilyn Marler Author Of Lily Hates Goodbyes

From my list on military families dealing with deployment.

Why am I passionate about this?

I know the pain of separations. Navy doctor father. Missionary kid at boarding school in India. Military wife. Military mother. Separations suck. So when my three-year-old grandchild Lily struggled with her daddy’s deployment in 2010, I felt her pain. I composed the story and used personal photos to illustrate Lily Hates Goodbyes. Whenever we read about book Lily’s emotions, my Lily would say, “Just like me!” Wanting other children to have this cathartic experience, I hired Nathan Stoltenberg, a brilliant illustrator, and self-published the book. It’s available in a Navy version and an All Military version—the only difference is daddy’s uniform. Book Lily is a friend to young military children around the world. 

Jerilyn's book list on military families dealing with deployment

Jerilyn Marler Why did Jerilyn love this book?

Written for grade school ages, this book lets children (military or not!) peek into a military family’s experiences as they struggle with the changes that happen when a parent is deployed. The children learn that nothing stays the same when a parent is away, except the way they love each other. I appreciate that the family is African-American. 

By Dominique James, Jasmine Mills (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked When You Are Away as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 9, 10, 11, and 12.

What is this book about?

Nothing is the same when a parent has to leave home for a while. See how things are different for these military kids when their dad goes on deployment.


Book cover of Dear Military Teen: Moving, Deployments, and Winning The Game of High School

Jerilyn Marler Author Of Lily Hates Goodbyes

From my list on military families dealing with deployment.

Why am I passionate about this?

I know the pain of separations. Navy doctor father. Missionary kid at boarding school in India. Military wife. Military mother. Separations suck. So when my three-year-old grandchild Lily struggled with her daddy’s deployment in 2010, I felt her pain. I composed the story and used personal photos to illustrate Lily Hates Goodbyes. Whenever we read about book Lily’s emotions, my Lily would say, “Just like me!” Wanting other children to have this cathartic experience, I hired Nathan Stoltenberg, a brilliant illustrator, and self-published the book. It’s available in a Navy version and an All Military version—the only difference is daddy’s uniform. Book Lily is a friend to young military children around the world. 

Jerilyn's book list on military families dealing with deployment

Jerilyn Marler Why did Jerilyn love this book?

There aren’t many military-focused books for teenagers, so I’m pleased to recommend this one. Teens face challenges just by being teens; add the complication of deployment separation and life can be extra daunting. The author, a 20-year Marine Corps brat, shares his wisdom and experiences in this straight-talk, no-nonsense guide.

By Shanon Hyde,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Dear Military Teen as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In his book, ‘Dear Military Teen,’ Shanon Hyde explores crucial life lessons in the obstacles that military brats face. Reflecting on the moves and deployments that his own family endured, Shanon provides honest advice for military teens looking to take their next steps in high school, college, and beyond.
“No military teen should ever feel like they are the first ones to undergo a tough transition,” Shanon explains. “This book serves as a reminder that they are not alone.”
Shanon also equips military teens with the essential skills of maintaining friendships over distance, navigate new social environments, and effectively chase…


Book cover of Building Resilience in Children and Teens: Giving Kids Roots and Wings

Jerilyn Marler Author Of Lily Hates Goodbyes

From my list on military families dealing with deployment.

Why am I passionate about this?

I know the pain of separations. Navy doctor father. Missionary kid at boarding school in India. Military wife. Military mother. Separations suck. So when my three-year-old grandchild Lily struggled with her daddy’s deployment in 2010, I felt her pain. I composed the story and used personal photos to illustrate Lily Hates Goodbyes. Whenever we read about book Lily’s emotions, my Lily would say, “Just like me!” Wanting other children to have this cathartic experience, I hired Nathan Stoltenberg, a brilliant illustrator, and self-published the book. It’s available in a Navy version and an All Military version—the only difference is daddy’s uniform. Book Lily is a friend to young military children around the world. 

Jerilyn's book list on military families dealing with deployment

Jerilyn Marler Why did Jerilyn love this book?

I had the privilege of hearing Dr. Ginsburg speak years ago and immediately bought this book. I’ve relied on it ever since and wish every parent could have a copy. As a pediatrician specializing in Adolescent Medicine, Ginsburg’s perspective and wisdom focus on strengthening family connections. Chapter 22 is specifically about military children, although the whole book will provide value for every family.

By Kenneth R. Ginsburg,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Building Resilience in Children and Teens as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Help prepare the children and teens in your life to face life's challenges with grace and grit. In this award-winning guide author and pediatrician Dr. Ken Ginsburg shares his 7 crucial Cs: competence, confidence, connection, character, contribution, coping, and control. You'll discover how to incorporate these concepts into your parenting style and communication strategies, thereby strengthening your connection. And that connection will position you to guide your child to bounce back from life's challenges and forge a meaningful and successful life. You'll also learn detailed coping strategies to help children and teenagers deal with the stresses of academic pressure, media…


Book cover of Being Lolita: A Memoir

Liz Kinchen Author Of Light in Bandaged Places: Healing in the Wake of Young Betrayal

From my list on teenage abuse and healing.

Why am I passionate about this?

I resonate with these stories; I feel a kinship with authors of books about teen sexual abuse. My heart breaks for another innocent young person, and I am also inspired by the different ways we find healing and peace. I am so grateful for my healing journey that I want to share what helped me with others who are looking for greater peace with their struggles and scars. I am proud to join the ranks of these authors because we all shine a spotlight on the harm done by this too-common abuse of the trust and innocence of teenage girls. 

Liz's book list on teenage abuse and healing

Liz Kinchen Why did Liz love this book?

I resonated with this memoir of teen grooming because I saw myself in it and I felt less alone, like I had found a kindred spirit. Many details of our stories are different, but the core wounding from being taken advantage of by an older more powerful man felt the same.

The author and I both experienced the thrill of being chosen and the deep sadness resulting from this kind of betrayal, and we both found a way to heal, even though the scars remain.

By Alisson Wood,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Being Lolita as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

AS FEATURED IN THE HULU DOCUMENTARY KEEP THIS BETWEEN US

A dark relationship evolves between a high schooler and her English teacher in this breathtakingly powerful memoir about a young woman who must learn to rewrite her own story.

“Have you ever read Lolita?”

So begins seventeen-year-old Alisson’s metamorphosis from student to lover and then victim. A lonely and vulnerable high school senior, Alisson finds solace only in her writing—and in a young, charismatic English teacher, Mr. North.

Mr. North gives Alisson a copy of Lolita to read, telling her it is a beautiful story about love. The book soon…


Book cover of Tampa

Andersen Prunty Author Of Sociopaths in Love

From my list on dark fiction for aspiring sociopaths.

Why am I passionate about this?

Ever since reading Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal in high school, I’ve always appreciated books and stories that can tackle dark subject matter in a completely deadpan way. The creator knows what they’re doing is kind of a joke and they’re inviting you along for the ride. I enjoy reading books where I think the writer had a really good time writing it, even if that means occasionally torturing the reader.

Andersen's book list on dark fiction for aspiring sociopaths

Andersen Prunty Why did Andersen love this book?

This is a seriocomic novel about a female eighth-grade teacher who sexually lures her male students. Extremely graphic and thought-provoking, Tampa also manages to be an incredibly entertaining dark comedy. Like a lot of sensationalistic books, this approaches a serious topic and turns it into a nearly absurd piece of entertainment. It’s also extremely well written. I loved it.

By Alissa Nutting,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Tampa as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Celeste Price is an eighth-grade English teacher in suburban Tampa. She is attractive. She drives a red Corvette. Her husband, Ford, is rich, square-jawed and devoted to her. But Celeste has a secret. She has a singular sexual obsession - fourteen-year-old boys. It is a craving she pursues with sociopathic meticulousness and forethought.
Within weeks of her first term at a new school, Celeste has lured the charmingly modest Jack Patrick into her web - car rides after dark, rendezvous at Jack's house while his single father works the late shift, and body-slamming encounters in Celeste's empty classroom between periods.…


Book cover of My Last Innocent Year

Stephanie Newman Author Of Barbarians at the PTA

From my list on mom culture.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a practicing clinical psychologist, teacher of psychotherapy theory and technique, and author (Barbarians at the PTA, Madmen on the Couch, Money Talks) who writes about the psychopathology of daily life for various online and print publications, I am a participant in/observer of mom culture. I love a juicy mother-child story. 

Stephanie's book list on mom culture

Stephanie Newman Why did Stephanie love this book?

Florin will make you ache for a mother’s love. She writes masterfully about her female character’s experience at a remotely insular and male-dominated elite college campus.

A coming of age and loss of innocence story, the novel is beautifully realized and thoroughly relatable–even if we didn’t attend this particular cold and icy campus, we’ve had moments of questioning our choices and have stumbled along the path before figuring it all out. 

By Daisy Alpert Florin,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked My Last Innocent Year as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An incisive, deeply resonant debut novel about a nonconsensual sexual encounter that propels one woman’s final semester at an elite New England college into controversy and chaos―and into an ill-advised affair with a married professor.

It’s 1998 and Isabel Rosen, the only daughter of a Lower East Side appetizing store owner, has one semester left at Wilder College, a prestigious school in New Hampshire. Desperate to shed her working-class roots and still mourning the death of her mother four years earlier, Isabel has always felt like an outsider at Wilder but now, in her final semester, she believes she has…


Book cover of My Dark Vanessa

Susan E. Wadds Author Of What the Living Do

From my list on flip the script on women’s sexuality, pleasure, and cultural roles.

Why am I passionate about this?

In my writing and in my life, I look at life and relationships in terms of what is and isn’t expected or acceptable. I’ve been fascinated by how pleasure itself has become a dirty word and how it can be exploited and used. Women have so much more potential and are so much more complex than what is given to us by media and social constructs. I write to expose the underside of identity, beliefs, and especially how past encounters color and shape our ability to experience pleasure.

Susan's book list on flip the script on women’s sexuality, pleasure, and cultural roles

Susan E. Wadds Why did Susan love this book?

I loved the shadow world of this book. How it was hard to determine if the relationship was indeed toxic or if the lust and hunger pointed truly to a love affair. It was sexy and disturbing at the same time.

It’s the relationship that fascinated me. The blurry lines between sex and love. Between grooming and real caring. And that even as an adult, the character doesn’t really know, and isn’t able to clearly understand how she feels. 

By Kate Elizabeth Russell,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked My Dark Vanessa as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An instant New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2021 DYLAN THOMAS AWARD

'A package of dynamite' Stephen King

'Powerful, compulsive, brilliant' Marian Keyes

An era-defining novel about the relationship between a fifteen-year-old girl and her teacher

ALL HE DID WAS FALL IN LOVE WITH ME AND THE WORLD TURNED HIM INTO A MONSTER

Vanessa Wye was fifteen-years-old when she first had sex with her English teacher.

She is now thirty-two and in the storm of allegations against powerful men in 2017, the teacher, Jacob Strane, has just been accused of sexual abuse by another former student.…


Book cover of Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson

Mark Steven Porro Author Of A Cup of Tea on the Commode: My Multi-Tasking Adventures of Caring for Mom. And How I Survived to Tell the Tale

From my list on books that do not flinch when dealing with difficult circumstances.

Why am I passionate about this?

Family history has always fascinated me. I didn’t want mine to be buried with my loved ones. So, out of curiosity, I asked relatives lots of questions. If unsatisfied, I sought answers elsewhere. I traveled as far as Celle San Vito, Italy, where my grandfather was born, to solve a one-hundred-year-old mystery, and I filmed it for others to enjoy. I’ve memorialized momentous family events in poems, handmade greeting cards, memory books, screenplays, a documentary, and now, in my memoir A Cup of Tea on the Commode. The books on my list are about “family.” I’ve been moved by each, and I hope they move you as well.

Mark's book list on books that do not flinch when dealing with difficult circumstances

Mark Steven Porro Why did Mark love this book?

Like many people, I first discovered Morrie on Nightline with Ted Koppel. Like many, I fell in love with his charm, courage, and determination to continue doing what was in his bones, teaching us what’s truly important in life.

Mitch Albom, his former student, shares many of Morrie’s lessons and his gift of uplifting others while facing his own death. I laughed, cried, and thanked Mitch and Morrie for sharing this gift with me.

By Mitch Albom,

Why should I read it?

7 authors picked Tuesdays with Morrie as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

THE GLOBAL PHENOMENON THAT HAS TOUCHED THE HEARTS OF OVER 9 MILLION READERS

'Mitch Albom sees the magical in the ordinary' Cecelia Ahern
__________

Maybe it was a grandparent, or a teacher or a colleague? Someone older, patient and wise, who understood you when you were young and searching, and gave you sound advice to help you make your way through it? For Mitch Albom, that person was Morrie Schwartz, his college professor from nearly twenty years ago.

Maybe, like Mitch, you lost track of this mentor as you made your way, and the insights faded. Wouldn't you like to…


Book cover of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

Kevin Clouther Author Of Maximum Speed

From my list on literary fiction about the passage of time.

Why am I passionate about this?

I live in the past, even as the wellness industry tells me to be present. I try to be present! Of course, I also worry about the future. Time for me, inexorably, moves both backward and forward. I’m always writing things down, scared of forgetting. How do other people do it? That’s why I read fiction (or one of the reasons). As Philip Roth said of his father in Patrimony, “To be alive, to him, is to be made of memory—to him if a man’s not made of memory, he’s made of nothing.”

Kevin's book list on literary fiction about the passage of time

Kevin Clouther Why did Kevin love this book?

The popularity of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie may have obscured its structural genius.

Never have I read a book so comfortable drifting between present and future within a single paragraph, even a single sentence. The short novel simultaneously exists inside a classroom in the 1930s and throughout the lives the students will later have as women.

If the Scottish author Muriel Spark had a literary model for this design, I’ve yet to discover it. Sometimes an artist creates something entirely new.

By Muriel Spark,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The brevity of Muriel Spark's novels is equaled only by their brilliance. These four novels, each a miniature masterpiece, illustrate her development over four decades. Despite the seriousness of their themes, all four are fantastic comedies of manners, bristling with wit.
Spark's most celebrated novel, THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE, tells the story of a charismatic schoolteacher's catastrophic effect on her pupils. THE GIRLS OF SLENDER MEANS is a beautifully drawn portrait of young women living in a hostel in London in the giddy postwar days of 1945. THE DRIVER'S SEAT follows the final haunted hours of a woman…


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