What is Suicide?

What is Suicide? A Book To Explain a Loss From Suicide To Children is a book that takes a heavy, complex topic and explains it in child-like terms by a licensed elementary school teacher. The author herself was hospitalized for suicidal ideation and has lost at least five people she loves to suicide. In this book you will learn about her cousin R.J. who died by suicide one year prior to McKenzie thinking about taking her life. McKenzie used herself and R.J. as the main characters in this story to make the content relatable for children to relate to when they lose someone they love and are navigating grief. Although McKenzie was sixteen when R.J. died, she took herself back to being six years old for the purpose of this book. This book offers space in the back for children to show their own understanding of different feeling words by drawing their own understanding in the book. This book is not a bedtime story necessarily, this is a resource. This book is not recommended for children under the age of 5 years old.