Link and the Shooting Stars by Susana Balán and Claudia Cano

Link and the Shooting Stars explores the universal search for one’s identity in a lively, original way through the experiences of Link, a young horse gifted in empathy but grappling with contradictory and confusing messages about life from those who love him. The story interweaves Link’s vibrant inner world of curiosity, confusion, and even despair with the many adventures and challenges he overcomes during his quest to find where the shooting stars land—a quest that is, at its core, a search for Home, for the place where he can feel at peace with his own self.

Link and the Shooting Stars is for children and adults alike. Younger children will benefit from reading the book with their parents or primary caregivers, while older children will enjoy reading it on their own or with an adult. Reading the book together will help them to understand and be able to talk with each other about difficult family dynamics and the misinterpretations that often lead to strife between parent and child and to challenging, “acting out” behaviors. Professionals in education, mental health, child development, and related fields will find the book useful in their work with young people, whether in their private practice or in educational and other institutional settings.

Susana Balán is an Argentine psychotherapist with clients throughout the Americas. She holds a degree in psychology from the National University of Buenos Aires and was trained in clinical psychology, social psychology, and psychoanalysis with Enrique Pichon-Rivière, a founder of Argentine psychoanalysis. She continued her training in Brazil at the Sociedade de Psicanálise Iracy Doyle in Rio de Janeiro. Susana is widely recognized in Argentina and Brazil for her clinical work and publications, which include five books focused on female identity, couple´s relationships, and the nature of love. Since 1998, she has have lived and worked in the New York area.

Link and the Shooting Stars, prepared in collaboration with Claudia Cano, applies concepts developed through her clinical work with adults. Claudia, a Mexican corporate training and communication specialist currently based in the Netherlands, developed with Susana the story of the young horse gifted in empathy in a search for the place where he can feel at peace with this own self. Susana is currently preparing a full-length book for psychologists, teachers and other professionals dealing with children and adults who, although often quite successful in school or work, feel deeply misunderstood in their search for an identity of their own.