I think this is the best book written on the topic of third culture kids. The book is insightful and answers questions that are just under the surface for both kids and those who love them.

This book discusses emotional and identity development of children growing up in foreign countries and re-entry issues. This is an excellent book for those who have lived abroad during the developmental years 0 - 18 and for parents. A must read!

This book was recommended to us and I would recommend it to anyone living outside their own culture with kids. The information is very valuable to helping children adjust and understanding how growing up outside their culture will affect them.

If you have lived in a country other than the country your parent(s) are from for a significant period of time as a child and then had to move back (or to another, very different place)...this book is for you. Like many other tck's, I have always felt out of place and just thought I was different or weird. I could never understand why my parents never had the same sentiments. Now I understand that the way I feel is a normal outcome of the way of life I had as a child. This book is also a great reference to those serving in the military with children, moving constantly both within the US and around the world. It puts the missing link in place and explains the complex emotions that child tck's experience as adults. It all makes sense now, and I can even understand why I married a Frenchman and why we're planning on moving back to Europe!

Being a child living in between a passport culture and another culture which one is daily relating to, needs not be a negative experience. There are certainly some unique issues for such cross cultural dwellers but with good preparation, communication, support systems, family functionality, the life of TCKs can be incredibly hopeful and beneficial.

Pollock and Van Reken have created a very readable and enjoyable account of the lives of a third culture kids. Clearly they have much knowledge and exposure to TCKs and have pulled together their many thoughts and reflections to give us the full picture of such an experience.
The book is both practical and insightful with many lists and suggestions for families. The personal vignettes and testimonies make the explanations more real. Though, it would have been more helpful to have more background information about the testimonies to place in proper context.
I appreciate the attitude of the book that there are challenges as well as great benefits and the choice lies with individuals to take responsibility for their own actions. Often reactions to life reside inside themselves rather than in outside events and situations. (p.181)
The book paints a nice picture of the TCK's family and experience but it gives very little guidance in actually helping and counseling such kids who may not have positive outcomes from their time abroad. It would be valuable to have a second volume of specific counseling techniques, interventions, and therapy guidelines to better serve TCKs and ATCKs who struggle from a less than ideal experience.

While the slant on this book is very American; it is a useful tool for people wanting to know about the reality of the third culture world. The author does attempt to include an international perspective. A good start for anyone researching this topic for the first time or experiencing this cultural phenomenon themselves. Worth the investment.

If you are raising children outside your home Nation, this book will help you understand and assist your children with their unique experiences living in the invisible "third" culture. If you or your spouse grew up in a Country foreign to their parents, this book may help illuminate emotions and behaviors that never quite made sense before (especially from the perspective of those of us who always lived in the same house!). This book is in english, but it is not about Americans only, but anyone from one Nation who spend several years or more of childhood in a second Nation. Should be a staple in every military, ambassadorial, or mission complex library!

I am a tck and I have met Mrs. Van Reken. She is brilliant, and her book helped me through many of my adolescent identity struggles. I have passed it along to friends and parents of tcks and everyone seems to agree that it is both interesting, thought-provoking, and helpful.

If you grew up in another country and have always felt a as though something is missing in your life, this book holds answers.

I recently found out about this book and the term TCK. As an American who spent the majority of the first ten years of my life growing up in Scotland, it felt so comforting to find out that there is a whole community of people out there like me, and that our common experiences have a name. Also, as someone who never thought I'd read another "textbook" after graduating college, this book has definitely changed my mind. It's a great balance of expert language and personal story, perfect for TCKs or ATCKs just discovering who they are, non TCKs who share their lives with TCKs, parents of TCKs, and any educator or professional in an international setting. I consider this book to be the definitive publication on my life experience, and those like me.

Anyone who is a TCK or ATCK or has kids who are TCKS needs to own this book. It does a lot to help us understand what and why we do what we do, and the best ways to deal with our issues. It is a form of support that for the most part is hard to find anywhere else.

Anyone who is a TCK or ATCK or has kids who are TCKS needs to own this book. It does a lot to help us understand what and why we do what we do, and the best ways to deal with our issues. It is a form of support that for the most part is hard to find anywhere else.

The world is changing, and we are changing with it. We have many people now born with more than one culture, born of immigrant parents, born in foreign countries, living and working in foreign countries, refugees, etc. This book addresses the feelings and alienation when one does not belong totally to one culture, but learns to function in two or more cultures.

The focus is on children of diplomats, missionaries, oil workers and military children, but the book has application for anyone who has spent enough time in another country to adapt some foreign ways. It isn't just children, it is the broadening experience of having your cultural identity challenged, recognizing new ways of dealing with problems, coming to the understanding that none of us has it entirely right, and that we can all learn from one another.

I have bought this book multiple times. I keep giving it away to people who love it. There is a whole world out there of young people growing up with a larger view, due to their more international upbringing. Much of their life, they feel alien. They learn different coping mechanisms - and they become very good at recognizing one another.

I am the quintessential third-culture kid. I was on a plane taking me to Singapore before I could walk. This began my life traveling from country to country following my father's career in an oil service company. Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, The Netherlands, and all points in between. This was my life until in was time for university, and I moved back to the States. When I read this book, I feel like I am reading the diary of my life. For the longest time I often wondered what was "wrong" with me. Why could I not fit in, why did I not feel at home?

After reading this book, I realize there is nothing wrong with me. The first time I read this book, I laughed and cried. It brought up so many emotions within me. I finally realized I was not alone in what I was feeling. If you are a fellow TCK, or a parent of a TCK you absolutely must read this book!!!

To me personally it was like reading my own psychological profile, complete with explanations of every weird quirk and odd personality trait, good or bad, that I've ever displayed.

Even if you are only in part a TCK or if you are close to someone who is, you will benefit enormously from this book.

This book is a well-written, clear and systematic treatment of what is surely a difficult theme, because everything pertaining to TCKs is so personal.

I had several "Aha" moments while reading this book. In fact, I ended up re-reading and underlining several passages.

Constantly being dislocated, constantly switching between educational systems and meeting all kinds of people impacts one more than one would care to imagine! A lot of it is definitely positive; there are some negative consequences, too.

TCKs bear the unintended consequences of decisions made by our parents, by the organizations they worked for, and by a host of a lot of factors we simply cannot control -- but which impact us in unpredictable ways. I would strongly recommend this to those who have lived abroad during their developmental years.

This book is a well-written, clear and systematic treatment of what is surely a difficult theme, because everything pertaining to TCKs is so personal.

I had several "Aha" moments while reading this book. In fact, I ended up re-reading and underlining several passages. As a result of this, I seem to be finding out why I had certain persistent behaviors that, try as I might, I could not change (or explain). Clearly, where we are brought up has an impact on our personalities and attitudes. I never realized precisely *how much* until I read this systematic account of the experiences of other TCKs.

Constantly being dislocated, constantly switching between educational systems and meeting all kinds of people impacts one more than one would care to imagine! A lot of it is definitely positive; there are some negative consequences, too.

We TCKs bear the unintended consequences of decisions made by our parents, by the organizations they worked for, and by a host of a lot of factors we simply cannot control -- but which impact us in unpredictable ways. I think reading this book has helped me far more than I thought it would -- and would very, very strongly recommend this to those who have lived abroad during their developmental years.

I am 29 years old, along with my parents and sisters we left the Philippines for Ethiopia when I was 9; at 10 I went to live with fellow missionaries at an overseas school some 700 km away from my new home because my mom & I couldn't manage homestudying! I ended up living with 2 families in one semester because the other left for PR (permanent return). After spending another year at home, a sister and I left for the Philippines where we lived wtih my aunt, she went to the local high school and I ended up in the international school on campus because the local school was full because I couldn't register on time. After that year, I was reuprooted to an American-based international boarding school in Kenya for 5 years, where I left for my new home in Botswana (my parents had transferred then) every school break. I started my first year in college in Botswana, knowing I would go to the States the next year. I ended up going to school in Ohio, then Tennessee, then was planning on moving to Texas when Australia became an option. Until a friend of mine from boarding school told me I should pick a place to call home, I eventually went back to Ohio to finish the degree I started. I moved to Texas shortly after graduation, stayed close to my sisters and a handful of relatives (the few that I know of), found a great church, got into everything--a church worship band where I played keyboards, then I decided I wanted to play drums, so I learned. I became part of a singles ministry, and the health ministry, and once in a while played basketball, and loved soccer (when no one really plays it that much here in this country) I wanted to learn Spanish, French, and Arabic because it was clear that I had a gift for picking up languages quickly, took special interest in foreign clients at work. I was ambitious, wanted to do everything all at once, had so many dreams to pursue as if I was afraid to waste my life. But I felt stuck. I started hating my job very quickly and was afraid to go back to school because I didn't want to get stuck in this country. I was choosing long-distace relationships knowing there would be an excuse for why things wouldn't work out. I was moving fast and succumbed to depression because eventually, I felt I wanted everything but didn't know what I really wanted. I found this book very recently during the last 3 days of my visit to Botswana where my parents still are. It brought tears to my eyes--10 years of going to psychologists and reading COUNTLESS conventional psychology and self-help motivating books of all kinds (all very good and helpful but only to a certain extent) I finally felt like I have been reached. I belong somewhere. Understood. Accepted. Uplifted. Affirmed. I had known about TCKs and global nomads for about 6 years, but didn't realize how fundamental it was to and was affecting all the choices I made for my present and my future. This book addressed my fears, inadequacies, my longings, my depression, my uniqueness. I knew there was something special about my perspective, my lenses. But my basic needs to be understood and to belong and to relate to other people intimately needed something no conventional method could address. I thank God adn I thank the authors for writing this book. I finally belong, and I world just got smaller and more bearable. And I feel like I don't have to do everthing to be somebody. It has already started to take my life on a positive turn and I'm only on page 60!

This book gives detailed information on TCK, the advantages and disadvantages of being TCK, how to overcome problems, and how to enhance advantages and minimise disadvantages. It also provides lots of interviews with TCKs

I myself is a TCK. Having spent 7 years of my childhood living from country to country, made me sometimes wonder why I never feel fully blended with my own culture, why I have a never ending homesick feeling to the countries I used to live in, why I love to live as a nomad and other questions and feelings that I myself was not able to understand. Glad I found this book some months ago. Good to know I'm just normal, even better ... people like me have our own identity: we are TCK!

Highly recommended for TCK, parents of TCK, siblings of TCK, spouses of TCK.

We heard about this book from a relief agency after my wife had been assisting in tsunami relief work. Having been brought up in Indonesia for the first 11 years of her life she had a very strong 3rd culture and language in her life. I had spent a few years living in the Pacific, including two years at boarding school, only going home at Christmas. I am now in the military and realise that we are now raising two more third culture kids!
We knew we had a special heritage but did not realise some of the feelings and emotions we both felt were "normal" and common for anyone spending time outside their home culture.
This book helped explain how our experiences could have an impact on our lives, and why we have such strong feelings and attachment for the countries we lived in as children. It also touches on the impact being in the military can have on families.
Recommended reading for anyone who has experienced living in a third culture.

A TCK is a child that grows up in a culture that is not the home culture of both of their parents. I am an Adult TCK. This book was a difficult and very helpful one to read. It incorporates stories and writings of Third Culture Kids from different backgrounds with the commentary of the authors. It provides practical advice on maximizing the benefits and overcoming the challenges of being a TCK, which makes it essential for parents of TCK's and adult TCK's to read. I recommend this book to my friends regularly, and have already read and given away two copies!

After growing up overseas (in Saudi Arabia) for all of my early childhood memories and then leaving abrubtly (in 1986)as a freshman in college... it was devastating to try to figure out what was going on with me! It was bizarre because I looked American, sounded American, ACTED American, but I felt so different and I definetly saw the world through different eyes. I felt so out of step and just couldn't quite get a grip. At the time there wasn't much information out and a friend contacted me a few years later with a few articles put together by this author and eventually Mr. Pollock wrote this book. When I first read it I swear it was a turning point for me. It felt like a total "lightbulb" moment! It all made sense finally and it was as if it freed me up to realize who I really was. (It probably sounds hokey, but ... it's true.) I am actually married now and strangely enough living back in Saudi Arabia where I have been doing Third Culture Kid seminars for the parents of TCKs. I think the most important thing that parents can understand about TCKs is that when they tell their kids they are moving back "home" - they need to realize that for a child that's grown up overseas.... they are LEAVING the only home they have ever known sometimes. 10 years to an adult might be nothing, but to a child who moved overseas at 4.... it is a lifetime of memories and friends.

I can not say enough about this book. It explains so much and any parent who is living overseas and raising children should be required to read this book before making a big move. (In some more severe cases, it could even be a literal life saver.)

If you have a child who has grown up overseas and seems to be floundering... isn't sure why they aren't making friends, is depressed but can't explain why... this book might be the best place to start. Like another reviewer said "it's really cheap therapy!"

I am a TCK and reading this book was like reading a biography of myself! It really did put into words the way I feel and have felt in living abroad. It addresses the many unique issues that Third Culture Kids experience. This book also has a lot of practical advice on relieving the stress and minimizing the chaos of a mobile lifestyle. I certainly recommend this book to TCKs, ATCK's and anyone with an interest in this fascinating lifestyle.

I am an ATCK in my 40s, and reading this book has proven to be a very profound experience. It allowed me to come to terms with issues that I have been trying to get to the bottom of my whole life. It was like psychotherapy but much cheaper!! The authors are thorough and thoughtful, and absolutely nail the issues that TCKs and ATCKs find themselves in possession of through no fault of their own. This book should be required reading for anyone preparing to move their families to the mission field. It should be required reading for all foreign missions administrative staff. To be in the field of foreign missions and not heed the information in this book is irresponsible in my opinion.

David Pollock and Ruth Van Reken have written a book that is invaluable to families who live overseas. Their understanding of the unique interpersonal and intrapersonal needs of persons in transition, coming and going from culture to culture, is first-hand as well as being well researched. It has been an essential tool for me as I work with students and families in the international/expatriate community. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

I was a Third Culture Kid and I found this book helpfull in understanding who I am 40 years later. (I found the TCK phrase awkward but could think of none better.)

I also think this would be of use to people whose childhood was similar to the TCK's. Especially children who had little stability while growing up. Divorce, parential deaths, and especially children shunted off to boarding schools.

Many boarding schools provide a fairly good life and a substitute family, but when it's over, it's over. and then who am I?

I was a Third Culture Kid and I found this book helpfull in understanding who I am 40 years later. (I found the TCK phrase awkward but could think of none better.)

I also think this would be of use to people whose childhood was similar to the TCK's. Especially children who had little stability while growing up. Divorce, parential deaths, and especially children shunted off to boarding schools.

Many boarding schools provide a fairly good life and a substitute family, but when it's over, it's over. and then who am I?