New book aims to guide parents through tough conversations

DOBBINS HEIGHTS — When Tyrell Plair was a kid, there was a coach who stepped up in his life, and in the lives of his friends who also grew up in poverty, to make sure that he had what he needed to play baseball and got the guidance that Plair wasn’t getting at home.

A fictionalized version of that coach is a character in Plair’s new book, “Just Like My Dad,” co-authored by Elizabeth M. Johnson, who has been teaching k-3 for nine years, experience which she applied to the book.

“He took a vested interested in us, talking to us, mentoring us,” Plair said. “So that’s basically what I wanted to do with this book.”

The book follows four kids on a baseball team: Miriam, Justin, Desmond and Tyler, and reveals that each kid has a different set of stresses at home that include divorce and absentee parents. In exploring the bond between these kids and with their coach, Plair and Johnson hope to provide kids and parents with insight into how to handle these difficult conversations.

“It’s basically a teaching format to invite conversations because everyone has their own teaching style — how to say it, how to do it — if someone doesn’t know how to initiate the conversation,” Plair said. “It’s targeted toward the kids but in reality, once the parent read it, they’ll get an understanding of how they’re parenting.”

Plair and Johnson will be signing copies of the book from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday, June 11 and Saturday, June 12 at the Dobbins Heights Community Center on Earle Franklin Road.

The story is personal for both authors: Plair was raised by a single mother, and Johnson was a single mother. Speaking from experience, Johnson said you can’t parent alone.

“It takes a village,” she said. “[The book] helps kids cope with the absence of a parent and also helps the parent to be able to teach their kids the importance of relying on their community.”

She added that whether it’s a teacher, a coach, or a neighbor, they can all help a child develop the life skills they need to overcome the challenges they’ll encounter and make good decisions.

Plair had his storyline down, knowing he wanted to share this story with parents and kids, but felt it needed a woman’s touch. He said Johnson brought the “balance” to the story that it needed.

He expressed frustration with the was that kids are being raised in front of a computer screen these days, and knew he wanted to use sports as the mechanism of growth for the characters.

“There’s no color when it comes to sports. So all these kids come together in sports, it fuels their personalities when they don’t like to have conversations about race, they have discussions about integrity, about commitment and responsibility,” Plair said. “Sports is one thing you can always incorporate lessons in.”