Illustrator: Tim Foley

Death and grief are integral parts of human life. A Promise in the Storm is designed to engage teenagers in learning about and reflecting on death and grief though the lens of Christian faith. A Promise in the Storm is not a traditional textbook. Rather, it consists primarily of a story that takes place in fictional Saint Monica's High School and follows the progress of several young people as they work hard to come to grips with their experiences of loss. Readers are invited to share the experiences of the characters and enter vicariously into the process of grieving.

The academic and theological content of this course is integrated into the story. Because of its unique approach to the topic, A Promise in the Storm offers unusual and exciting possibilities for teaching, learning, and growing in faith. Along with providing doctrinal content on Catholic teaching about suffering, death, eternal life, and so on, A Promise in the Storm is also concerned with the spirituality of death and suffering. Five appendices to the book explain the Catholic perspective on several special issues in the study of grieving and dying.

Contents
1. The World of Saint Monica's High
2. Denying Death's Reality
3. Seeing Life in the Face of Death
4. A Roman Catholic Funeral
5. Beyond the Horizon
6. What Is Death?
7. Tragedy at Saint Monica's
8. Blessed Are Those Who Mourn
9. They Shall Be Comforted
10. Arise, My Love

Appendices
A. Hospice: Compassionate Care for the Dying
B. Euthanasia: Mercy or Murder?
C. Capital Punishment
D. Suicide: A Tragic Attack on Life
E. Death and the World's Religions

Teaching manual: The student text was designed to be fully supported by the thorough resources in its companion teaching manual.

Grade level: A Promise in the Storm: Grieving and Dying with Hope is developed for use with eleventh- or twelfth-grade students. It can be used in courses of a full semester or a half semester in length.

Length: 208 pages

Illustrations: 60 color illustrations and photos, 41 black-and-white illustrations and photos

Copyright: 1996

Size: 8-1/2 x 10