Childhood can be rough. Even the most uneventful childhood is fraught with an assortment of worries and fears; some are benign and even seem silly – consider the child who pales at the sound of a noisy blender or is afraid to sleep without his blankie – while others are based on reality, such as dealing with the illness of a beloved relative. But a child that experiences a trauma or some other hardship will face a set of challenges that will transform him forever. Such a child will not remain a child for long.

A pair of books has recently