Pieces of Purple – Book Release

Michèle Phoenix is not a stranger to the world of missionary kids. An MK herself, Michèle has written several books relating to the topic. Last week, she released her newest book, Pieces of Purple. She shares in the post below the “why” behind this book.

Behind the Book

I didn’t set out to write a book. Just as I didn’t choose to be a Third Culture Kid. That’s one of the beautiful things about life: the greatest joys sometimes come as unexpected gifts.

Like so many other MKs, I was born into a context where airports were more familiar than playgrounds, where home was a shifting concept rather than a specific place, and where my identity felt like an intricate tapestry woven with the threads of multiple contexts and cultures. But in that complexity, I found something extraordinary—a richness, a perspective, a depth of experience that cannot be measured.

I found being an MK fascinating—and just a bit daunting.

As an adult, I spent twenty years teaching at Black Forest Academy (Germany) and had the privilege of walking alongside younger versions of myself—TCKs trying to make sense of their fragmented yet beautiful realities. In their stories, I saw my own. In their questions, I recognized the ones I had asked at their age. And in their resilience, I found inspiration.

After three decades of researching, teaching, and mentoring, I decided it was time to give in to the steady drumbeat of “You should write a book about that” and consider sharing some of what I’ve learned. And—here we are. Pieces of Purple released on April 3 rd , 2025. It is an ode to the beauty of an unconventional life. To the friendships formed in international spaces, to the thrill of experiencing multi-cultural adventures, and to the way TCKs can walk into a room full of strangers and instinctively find those who share our heart language.

This book is for them. For every MK, every TCK, every Global Nomad who has ever felt
unseen, misunderstood, or lost in the in-between.

Michèle Phoenix

And it’s for those who love their “purple people” but don’t quite grasp the source or nature of the differences they see. Understanding fuels wisdom, and wisened love can be both protective and restorative.

Hope and Healing

In Pieces of Purple, I set out to celebrate the treasures of growing up between worlds—the resilience it builds, the adaptability it fosters, and the way it shapes us into people who understand the nuances of humanity on a profound level.

But I also wanted to explore what’s difficult, just as intentionally.

For every Positive Childhood Experience (PCE) TCKs enjoy, there can be equally impactful Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) they endure. Because both are intimately embedded in the mosaic that reflects who we are at our core, telling only the Wonderful half of our story would do an injustice to those of us who have also walked the Hard of this road.

So Pieces of Purple does celebrate the richness of our kaleidoscopic lives, but it also acknowledges and explores the impact of constant goodbyes, the weight of expectations, and the silent struggles that so many of us have wrestle with (or still do) . The book delves into fifteen specific factors that influence the development of TCKs in both beneficial and challenging ways—factors like social dexterity, cultural malleability, gut-level world awareness, the assets and limitations of unbelonging, the impact of grief on fragile faith, and the too-often-overlooked realities of trauma. In conjunction with each other, these help to explain how individual TCKs might navigate identity, spirituality, and transitions.

I keenly remember the luminous moments I experienced growing up in the world of cross-cultural ministry. They’re scattered like flecks of gratitude across the landscape of my past. But I also recall the ache of dark injuries endured while living in the extraordinary places I loved. Then, the lostness of leaving it all—the friends, homes, and identities that had become a part of me.

I didn’t have the language to articulate what I now understand—that TCKs’ lives are a delicate dance of shimmering light and hovering darkness. And that there is hope and healing in the gold that lies in the tension between those poles.

An Ode to Us

Pieces of Purple, beautifully designed by TCK artist Elise Cheung, unfolds like a play in three acts, with a lyrical prelude and postlude and narrative interludes (my favorite MK stories!) that serve as palate-cleansers between its fifteen light and looming topics. And it is filled with the voices of TCK —quotes, reflections, and poetry from those who have lived this reality firsthand. Their words bring depth and authenticity to the subject matter, ensuring that no one who reads the book feels alone in their experience.

Like so many others, despite the challenges of my own life, I would not trade my TCK experience for anything. It has given me a heart that beats for the world, a spirit that craves connection, and a faith that has been refined through both certainty and doubt.

There is beauty in our complexity. There is strength in our resilience. There is richness in our wandering. And in the end, the pieces of our story—scattered though they may be—come together to form something breathtaking.