Includes bibliographical references (pages 301-323) and index.

Introduction -- Part I : children who leave, mothers who wait -- You're the mother of a terrorist -- The godmother and her God-daughters -- Part II : change makers -- The 'terrorist drop-off center'-on meeting the be-header -- Loss of faith -- Only God knows you're the mother of a terrorist -- The human heart -- Part III : a wider view -- American blow back --Taking responsibility -- How To de-radicalize your town -- Acknowledgments.

"Nicola, Christianne, and Marie are mothers who discovered too late that their sons had been radicalized online and had flown from the West to join the tens of thousands of foreign ISIS fighters in Syria. Too often extremists are portrayed as having sprung from the earth as irredeemable killing machines, but these women underscore the deeper truth that no one is born a terrorist, and they have themselves become activists in preventing violent radicalism. Grasping at the Root explores innovative new counter-extremism programs around the world, including in the United States, Europe, Pakistan, and Indonesia. We meet an American judge who has staked his career on finding new ways to handle terror suspects, a Pakistani woman running a game-changing school for former child soldiers, a radicalized Somali American who learns through literature to see beyond his hate-filled beliefs, and a former neo-Nazi who now helps disarm jihadis"-- Provided by publisher.