Through Troubled Waters

by William H. Armstrong

Mr. Armstrong, author of "Sounder", a well-known children's story, tells the story of the sudden death of his wife. This book has received praise for its adept help and understanding for people suddenly grieving over the loss of a loved one.

86 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1957

About the author

William H. Armstrong (1911 - 1999) was an American children's author and educator, best known for his 1969 Newbery Medal-winning novel, Sounder.

In 1956, at the request of his school headmaster, he published his first book, a study guide called Study Is Hard Work. Armstrong followed this title with numerous other self-help books, and in 1963 he was awarded the National School Bell Award of the National Association of School Administrators for distinguished service in the interpretation of education.

In 1969, Armstrong published his masterpiece, an eight-chapter novel titled Sounder about an African-American sharecropping family. Praised by critics, Sounder won the John Newbery Medal and the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1970, and was adapted into a major motion picture in 1972.

Reviews

[Sam]

This is a quick read that only took about 2 hours to read. It was kind of all over the place, but the writing itself was very poetic and beautiful. Sometimes it went a little over my head; I was too tired to concentrate enough to make it all stick. But it was a beautiful, true story written by a man whose wife died suddenly and unexpectedly and how he and his three kids reacted and grieved and endured. I loved how he so simply used scripture to answer some of his children's questions. I'm giving it 5 stars because this was his real life and I can't give honest, vulnerable memoirs anything less.

[Alana Cash]

This is a very sweet, poignant true story about a family that suddenly loses the mother. The father captures the stunned grief of his 3 children in a way that can make you cry. There is no resolution to the situation, except time - a long time. He skips from the present immense loss to grown up children so that the reader knows they survived and thrived.

It's a short book - 86 pages in hard cover and highly recommended.

[Sara]

I cried all the way through. This little book could be read over and over.

[Mounica Alapati]

Classic Heart-touching read!!

[Catherine Sandy]

This is the second time I've read this book. I think I read it first in 1976. Written after the sudden death of his wife leaving him with three young children. Beautiful. tells about his faith and how it sustained him.