By Jenna Telesca
³My daughter was experiencing a lot of stress from my divorce,² said Biron-Dekel. ³I knew that one way or another, it needed to come out.²
When talking to her daughter didn¹t seem to work, she tried to find a book that covered the topic of the physical effects of suppressing anger. When she found no books on that topic existed, she decided to take matters into her own hands.
She told her daughter a bedtime story in which a little girl deals with her emotions of her parents¹ divorce. ³I thought anger has a life of its own,² said Biron-Dekel, an Oceanside resident since 1978.
In the story, she personified Anger and had him try to make his way out of the little girl¹s body. Each time Anger tried to leave the little girl¹s body, the girl held onto Anger and he caused her physical pain.
The story got through to her daughter. ³After I finished, she looked at me with a look of recognition,² she said. That was 11 years ago. Her daughter is now 19, and the book is a reality.
Over the years, Biron-Dekel never entirely forgot about writing the book, but her life was busy as a single parent and as a counselor for Valley North High School. When she began seriously considering writing the book once again, she decided to work with AuthorHouse, a publishing company in Indiana, because she would have artistic input.
It took two years for Biron-Dekel to find the perfect illustrator. After five different illustrators didn¹t work out, she found Joseph Underdue, a recent art school graduate.
Even after she found the right artist, Biron-Dekel said it took time to make the illustrations ³exactly right.² Working with AuthorHouse to finish the publication was also an extensive process. ³It¹s definitely years in the making of a labor of love,² said Biron-Dekel.
Now published, the book is a story about a girl named Sam dealing with the red Anger in her body. As Sam deals with physical ailments such as headaches, asthma and weight gain, we see Anger trying to fight his way out. Although skillfully drawn, the illustrations are also children-friendly and look like they could have been made with watercolors, colored pencils and crayons.
When Biron-Dekel asked students at her school for input on the story, she found that older children also responded to the book. She now uses the book as a tool at work: ³I¹ve used this book with kids as old as 12, 13 and 14. They really find something to relate to. Each one of them have something they can talk from, to open a dialogue.²
Biron-Dekel¹s hopes for the book are two-fold. On the one hand, she wrote the book as a cute bedtime story, but on the other, she says: ³It¹s a great counseling tool for parents, for therapists, for teachers, for young teachers, who feel their kids are suppressing their feelings.²
Even though Biron-Dekel never intended to become an author, she doesn¹t discount the possibility of writing more books. ³Other topics need exploring, in a concrete manner, [and] a colorful way that kids can relate to,² she said.
³Anger¹s Way Out² can be found in local bookstores such as Chapter One Books in Oceanside. Online it can be bought at Amazon, Border¹s and AuthorHouse¹s Web sites. Biron-Dekel will start her Long Island book-signing tour at Lazy Days Bookstore in Long Beach on Sept. 10.
Comments about this story? JKellard@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 287.
