My Name is Erin, and My Mom's an Addict

by Amy Voltaire

Overview

Raised by her grandparents when her mother chooses drugs over her daughter, Erin knows she isn't like other kids. Then her world is shaken a second time by her mother's reappearance.

Being a teenager is never easy, but just when Erin thinks she has her life on track, her mother shows up and warms her way back into Erin's life. Can an addict really ever kick the addiction? How many lives will drugs destroy?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781939696496
Publisher:	Blue Dragon Publishing, LLC
Publication date:	04/27/2019
Pages:	250
Sales rank:	696,872
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.57(d)
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

Amy Voltaire makes a living as an accountant but spends much of her free time writing. She has always loved to write, but it wasn't until the sixth grade when she was invited to attend The Young Author's Conference that she realized she might have a knack for it. Having grown up in an alcoholic home, she knows firsthand what it feels like to be a teenager with an addicted parent. She wants to share the effect this illness has on others. Amy Voltaire has lived in Yorktown, Virginia her whole life. She is a Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) in Toastmasters International. During her journey to become a DTM, she has written and given over sixty speeches, winning several contests in the process. When she's not working, writing, or attending Toastmasters meetings, you'll find her watching tv with her best buddies (her dog and cat), reading a book, or going to her favorite restaurants with her son, Chase. Amy is, in many ways, still a child at heart and therefore, loves all things magical. She loved the first Harry Potter movie so much that she went and saw it a second time by herself. She admits to having zero fashion sense, always opting for comfort over appearance, and being completely unable to walk in high-heeled shoes.

Editorial Reviews

Are you the child of an addict?

Do you wonder if it’s your fault your parent or loved one uses or drinks?

Do you ride the emotional roller coaster of anger, fear, and depression over the effects on your life?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, Amy Voltaire’s book is for you. With honesty and transparency, she shares about the "everyday, normal people who became addicts because of making stupid choices." She faces the reality of the ripple effect of drugs: “Addiction ruins lives and tears families apart. Everyone involved suffers.” And most of all, she offers the reader hope.

~Yvonne Ortega, LPC, LSATP, CCDVC (Licensed Professional Counselor, Licensed Substance Abuse Treatment Practitioner, Clinically Certified Domestic Violence Counselor)

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This gripping novel takes a topic that is ripped from the headlines—opioid addiction—and handles it skillfully in an age-appropriate way. Erin is a girl like any other, navigating adolescence, school, and crushes, who happens to be estranged from her addicted mother. Her narration is refreshingly honest, mixing humor with anger and pain, making her real and relatable. I highly recommend this book to all young-adult readers, because it offers no easy answers. The author is brave enough to embrace the gray area between hope and despair to show that in the end, no one is ever truly alone: family comes in many forms, and the past does not have to control the future.

Erika St. Dennis, Master of Teaching

From the Publisher