With hundreds of thousands of current and former military brats in the United States, their lives as children of service members are surprisingly little documented. Reading about the experiences of fellow brats can help these children of warriors understand both themselves and the unique world in which they were raised. Learning of the challenges that these children face will also help the general population consider how to honor and to help those whose lives were shaped by the military without volunteering or being drafted. This book explores the military brat experience as reflected in novels intended for adults, adolescent fiction, autobiographies and biographies, and highlights the common elements: frequent moves, the ever-present sense of danger, the potential loss of the service member, and isolation from the larger civilian world. By understanding the lives of brats, we can better understand the very real costs--beyond the lives of service members themselves--that families bear in the name of our collective freedom and security.

Army Brat, Army Bride, Civilian: A Life reveals the ups and downs of military living through the experiences of one who was both a sergeants daughter and an officers wife. The military teaches many lessons but not how to transition to civilian life after more than thirty years of moving around in the Army, including attending five different high schools as a teenager. While in the Army, families learn to adapt to renting or buying an apartment or house in town or to being assigned a set of Army quarters on a military post. If in quarters, they must not paint walls or install carpet or leave holes in walls where pictures used to hang. Although the Army is a highly structured organization, flexibility is a key word for its families. Dealing with snafus, making decisions which seem right at the time but turn out to be trumped by the demands of the military, adjusting to new places, and making new friends every two to three years are all part of living the military life. Yet the adventure and excitement of this life are evident throughout.

The lives of Army brats have always been a core component of the US military. Scarcely described until now, Army Brat: World War II is an essential account that fills a major gap in history. Author Laura Thurston Gutman lived deeply embedded within the US Armed Forces from the United States’ earliest entry into World War II through the Vietnam era. Chronicling pivotal events during those years, this historical autobiography describes a life inextricably intertwined with the military. From her birth at West Point’s hospital, to her cobbled-together education, and witnessing her father’s many military honors, Laura’s childhood was one of intense awareness of the danger her father faced and the courage her mother displayed. As she grew older, she lurked in the background during long evenings of intense discussions of policy. Through the constant upheaval and disruption so familiar to military families, Laura developed a radical independence, a determination to gain control over her life, and a fearless approach to her own education. Chronicling the experiences of a strong military family as they witness and participate in the unfolding of history in a dangerous and challenging world, Army Brat identifies consequential insights into the critical importance of a strong religious foundation; an educational system dedicated to core concepts of nation and loyalty; and leadership that prioritizes sovereignty, national defense, and military support.

Raising a brat is easy! Basically, it's only 11 easy steps. Follow them carefully, or perhaps even randomly, the results will amaze you. Or, ask yourself the filtering question of "Will it matter in ten years?" to guide you to raise an adolescent who can cope with life. The decisions you make and the perspective you keep on the day to day interactions with your child is incredibly powerful. 11 Easy Steps to Raise a Brat, The Great Adventure: The Parent Teacher Conference, A Middle School Kid Moved in Last Night, The Big Scary World, and It's Just an Illusion: Making the Working Mom Thing Look Easy will pose insights that will invite you to reflect on the guiding question of "Will it matter in ten years?" every time you pick which battle to attend to while raising your child. The "battles" can be called "interactions" and these interactions start with your child's first breath. Hang on! It's a wonderful adventure! You have an awesome task at hand. The task will create decisions, actions, and reactions that will help you create the perfect brat or raise a decent kid. Ultimately, the choice is yours. And your parenting decisions matter!

Taming Your Inner Brat explores the inner brat in all of us, explaining its psychological roots in early childhood and why bratty thoughts, feelings, and behaviors persist. It also addresses social and cultural conditions that encourage the self-centeredness and sense of entitlement upon which the inner brat thrives.

What begins as a ploy to claim an inheritance ends with the impostor’s life hanging in the balance. In this tale of mystery and suspense, a stranger enters the inner sanctum of the Ashby family posing as Patrick Ashby, the heir to the family's sizable fortune. The stranger, Brat Farrar, has been carefully coached on Patrick's mannerism's, appearance, and every significant detail of Patrick's early life, up to his thirteenth year when he disappeared and was thought to have drowned himself. It seems as if Brat is going to pull off this most incredible deception until old secrets emerge that jeopardize the imposter's plan and his life. Culminating in a final terrible moment when all is revealed, Brat Farrar is a precarious adventure that grips the reader early and firmly and then holds on until the explosive conclusion.