Children’s Books about Adoption
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Along Came You by Karona Drummond
What happens when the pleasures of a tidy, carefully decorated home are traded for the excitement of high chairs and noisy toys? When quiet evenings and carefully planned schedules are traded for busy days and crazy nights? What happens when the desire to experience joy is replaced with the desire that another would experience joy? Karona Drummond weaves images of life before kids with life after kids. Children will delight in this love song written to them about the joyful change they bring about and how the loving sacrifices of their parents transform a simple life into an abundant life. This book is a truly a touching glimpse and a warm reminder of the parent heart of God.
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A New Barker in the House by Tomie DePaola (Younger Child)
The Barker twins, Morgie and Moffie, meet their adopted brother, Marcos.
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Ben and the Sudden Too-Big Family by Colby Rodowsky (Not Young, but not Old Child)
Ben’s philosophy of life is that there are two categories of things that happen, the all-right stuff and the not-all-right stuff. Ben has always lived with just his dad, Mitch, which definitely falls into the all-right category. When Mitch meets Casey and they decide to get married, that turns out to be all right, too. Then Mitch and Casey decide to adopt a baby from
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Big Brother Binky (DVD – young child)
Binky’s parents decide to adopt a baby from China. Binky is excited at first, but soon becomes jealous. The lengthy foreign adoption process is explained simply and in a fun way. Binky and his parents travel to China to bring back the newest addition to their family. Halfway through this 20-minute episode there is a “Postcards from You” sequence. The first one consists of a video made by two girls adopted from China and living in the United States. The second sequence features youngsters from Sweden playing soccer.
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Bringing Asha Home by Uma Krishnaswami (Younger Child)
Eight-year-old Arun waits impatiently while international adoption paperwork is completed so that he can meet his new baby sister from India.
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The Coffee Can Kid by Jan M. Czech (Younger Child)
With the help of her father, a young girl reconnects to her past in this heartwarming story of international adoption.
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Emma’s Yucky Brother by Jean Little (2-4 grades)
Emma can’t wait for her new adopted brother, Max, to move in. But having a brother is a lot harder than Emma imagined-especially when Max calls her “yucky”! Is this really what little brothers are all about?
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Finding Joy by Marion Coste (Younger Child)
K-Gr 3-This well-written story features a Chinese baby whose birth parents feel that they “have no room for girls” and sadly arrange for her to be found; she is then placed in an orphanage. Coste relates this heartbreaking event in gentle, nonjudgmental terms. A white American couple with grown children, who “missed the sight of little hands and chubby legs,” feel that their “family’s not complete” and decide to adopt a daughter from China. Shu-li is renamed Joy.
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Forever Fingerprints by Sherrie Eldridge (Younger Child)
Lucie’s aunt and uncle are having a baby, which makes Lucie wonder about her birthmother and what it was like before she was born. Her parents help her to discover a simple way to create a connection to her birthparents and help her understand the relationship she has with them.
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God Found Us You by Lisa Tawn Bergeren
The story is presented as a cherished and much-repeated bit of bedtime conversation between Mama Fox and Little Fox. Asked about “the day I came home,” Mama talks about how long she dreamed about and waited for Little Fox. Little Fox asks, “You were lonely for me?” and Mama’s affirmative response, for which several spreads of illustrations are provided, makes them cuddle all the closer: her pain is simultaneously shared and assuaged by Little Fox. Little Fox also asks about why he couldn’t stay “with the mother who had me,” and Mama responds in a warm and assuring tone. Bryant’s appealing images, mostly gentle pastels, are sweet but not saccharine, portraying these anthropomorphous animals as intelligent, loving, and wonderfully matched.
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Happy Adoption Day! By John McCutcheon (Very Young Child)
This adaptation of McCutcheon’s song commemorates the day when a child joins an adoptive family. Complete with musical notation, these verses reassure adopted children they are special.
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Heart of Mine by Dan and Lotta Hojer (Younger Child)
Once a mommy and a daddy were longing for a child to take care of and love. Then one day their phone rang, and they were told a little girl had been born in a land far away. Her name was Tu Thi. She had spiky hair, round cheeks, and a tiny little mouth. The mommy and daddy thought of nothing but Tu Thi, and soon they embarked on a wondrous journey to bring her home.
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Horace by Holly Keller
This is an adoption story that celebrates belonging. Every child who, like the title character Horace, has been chosen to be loved by a second family will know just how wonderful–and how true–his story is.
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I love you Like Crazy Cakes by Rose Lewis (Young Child – Single Mom adopts)
Mother-love is profound, however a baby comes into a woman’s life. For Rose Lewis, the journey to motherhood begins with a letter to Chinese officials, asking if she can adopt from the “big room with lots of other babies.” The infants in that room in China are each missing a mother, but Lewis is missing something, too–a baby. She travels to China to meet her new little girl and falls head over heels in love. Taking her baby home to America, Lewis introduces her to all her family and friends, and they begin their life together. A touching love story, I Love You Like Crazy Cakes will warm the cocklesof any new parent’s heart, especially those who have recently adopted a child. It’s an ideal story for lap-time reading, and will inspire parents and kids to talk about their own first “meetings,” whether at birth or in an adoption agency.
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Jin Woo by Eve Bunting (Young Child)
David likes his family the way it has always been, just him and Mom and Dad. He never wanted to be a big brother. And he certainly didn’t want Jin Woo, the little baby from Korea, to join the family. Now Jin Woo is getting all the attention, and David feels as if no one cares about him anymore. But then a surprising letter helps him to understand that being a brother can mean being surrounded with more love than ever. Eve Bunting and Chris Soentpiet bring the same deep emotion that distinguished their previous collaboration, So Far from the Sea, to this moving story of an adoptive family that has love to spare.
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Just Add One Chinese Sister by Patricia McMahon and Conor Clarke McCarthy (Younger Child)
Claire and her mother are working together on a scrapbook as they relive their first days and hours together following Claire’s arrival from her birth home in China. Claire’s big brother, Conor, had kept a journal as he anticipated the day his new sister would arrive, and these entries also become part of their book of memories. At first, Claire was scared of her new parents and brother, who all spoke a different language than she was used to hearing. But these foreigners loved the adopted Claire, and little by little they shared experiences that brought them together, and made them into a family.
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Main Street by Ann M. Martin (Older Child)
Flora and Ruby’s Aunt Allie has always wanted a baby… and now she’s getting one! An adoption agency in New York City has called and has told her that the baby she’s adopting will be born any minute now. Flora and Ruby couldn’t be more excited — they’ve never had a cousin before, and they are full of suggestions (about the baby’s name, about what the baby’s room should look like, about how they’re going to help Aunt Allie). Soon the whole family is going down to the big city for the big event…a special delivery of the best possible kind. There’s only one question: Will it be a boy or a girl?
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Martian Child (DVD – any child, possibly older will understand more)
David is a widowed science fiction writer who adopts Dennis, a young boy who claims to be from the Red Planet. David believes the child acts strangely in order to process the difficulty he has had in his young life, but soon both David and his sister, Liz, begin to wonder if the boy might be telling the truth.
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Mommy Far, Mommy Near by Carol Peacock (Young Child)
Elizabeth, who was born in China, describes the family who has adopted her and tries to sort out her feelings for her unknown mother.
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Momma Loves her Little Son by Johnny Carter Cash
Grammy Award winning John Carter Cash creates a lyrical painting based on the intimate words his mother, June Carter Cash, shared with him as a child. Captured in the exquisite Americana art of illustrator Marc Burckhardt, an expression of love between mother and son comes to life in vibrant simplicity.
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My Family is Forever by Nancy Carlson (Younger Child)
Some families look alike, some don’t. Some families are formed through birth, and some families are formed by adoption. But as the little girl in this heartwarming book makes clear, being a family isn’t about who you look like or where you were born—it’s about the love that binds you together. Adoptive families are sure to delight in the special story of the narrator’s adoption—from her parents’ excited preparations and long journey by airplane to meet her, to their life together as a family.
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My New Family by Pat Thomas (Younger Child)
Children are sometimes upset to discover that they have been adopted. This book helps them understand how lucky they are to have to have loving, adoptive parents—and how lucky their parents are to have them!
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The Other Sister by S.T. Underdahl (Older Child)
Josey Muller’s parents just dropped an A-bomb: she has a sister! No longer the only daughter and the “smart one” in the family, Josey tries to accept Audrey. But feelings of betrayal and jealousy boil over when she learns that her talented older sister is becoming a psychologist–Josey’s life goal. Will Josey ever feel like a sister to this stranger?
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Pinky and Rex and the New Baby by James Howe (2nd or 3rd grade)
Determined to be a good big sister, Rex starts spending all her time with the baby her family has adopted, making her neighbor Pinky fear that he has lost her friendship.
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Shaoey and Dot by Mary Beth and Steven Curtis Chapman (Younger Child)
Bug Meets Bundle is an endearing tale told from the point of view of one little ladybug, Dot, who happens upon a mysterious bundle one sunny day. Dot stays with the little bundle as she is carried to the place “where babies come to be found” and promises to stay with the little one throughout her journeys toward getting a family. Written by Christian music artist Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife Mary Beth, this heartwarming tale is inspired by the true story of their adoption of three little girls from China and is a story of hope and faith for all families who have been blessed by a “lost little bundle of love.”
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Star of the Week by Darlene Friedman and Roger Roth (Younger Child)
It’s Cassidy-Li’s turn to be Star of the Week at school! So she’s making brownies and collecting photos for her poster. She has pictures of all the important people in her life-with one big exception. Cassidy-Li, adopted from China when she was a baby, doesn’t have a photo of her birthparents. But with a little help from her family, she comes up with the perfect way to include them! Using their own family’s story as a model, Darlene Friedman and Roger Roth celebrate the love of families everywhere through this straightforward and insightful book.
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Tell Me Again About the Night I was Born by Jamie Lee Curtis (Young Child)
Tell me again about the night I was born. Tell me again how you would adopt me and be my parents… Tell me again about the first time you held me in your arms .In asking her mother and father to tell her again about the night of her birth, a young girl shows that it is a cherished tale she knows by heart. Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell come together once again to create a unique celebration of the love and joy a baby brings into the world. Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born is a heartwarming story, not only of how one child is born but of how a family is born.
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Through Moon and Stars and Night Skies by Ann Warren Turner (Younger Child)
A boy who came from far away to be adopted by a couple in this country remembers how unfamiliar and frightening some of the things were in his new home, before he accepted the love to be found there. From the farthest shores to the deepest oceans, a mother’s love for her child is without bounds. Little ones will be swept away on a magical adventure over mountains and sky scrapers and through forests and streams in this tender and joyful celebration of the enduring bond between mother and child.
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Waiting for May by Janet Morgan Stoeke (Younger Child)
In this poignant and heartfelt book, a young boy anticipates the arrival of his new baby sister, who is coming from China to be adopted into his American family.
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We Belong to Together by Todd Parr (Very Young Child)
In a kid-friendly, accessible way, bestselling author/illustrator Todd Parr explores the ways that people can choose to come together to make a family, and approaches this challenging subject with humor and sensitivity through his bold and colorful illustrations.
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We Wanted You by Liz Rosenberg (Very Young Child)
The loving voices of a child’s parents tell the story of an adoption, from waiting to meet the baby for the first time through the growth of a family. Peter Catalanotto’s vibrant illustrations form a clever and dramatic counterpoint to the text; presented as a series of family snapshots, the images run backward in time.
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You’re Not My REAL Mother by Molly Friedrich (Younger Child)
What are some of the qualities of a real mother? She’s nurturing—she’ll let you put twenty Band-Aids on a bruised knee when you only need one; she’s dedicated—she’ll drive miles out of her way to retrieve your beloved bear left behind; she’s playful–she catches fireflies with you after bedtime . . . and much, much more.
Childrens’ Books about God’s Acceptance of all Children, families, etc.
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Castaway Kid by R.B. Mitchell (Older Child/Teen)
Rob Mitchell is one of the last “lifers” raised in an American orphanage. Left by a dysfunctional family in an Illinois children’s home, he grew up with kids who were not friends but rather “co-survivors.” After becoming a Christian as a teenager, Rob found what he was looking for, home and family, in a relationship with God. Rob was able to overcome his past, forgiving his relatives and forging healthy family relationships of his own.
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Just the Way you Are by Max Lucado (Younger Child)
One of the greatest gifts parents can give their children is the assurance that Mom and Dad love them just as they are, apart from anything that they do. But telling them once won’t make it sink in. Kids need to be reminded of it over and over, until those words get inside their hearts. In the same way, children need to hear again and again that their Heavenly Father loves them and wants to spend time with them–even if they’re not wonderfully talented or extremely smart or exceptionally popular. That message of God’s unconditional acceptance and deep desire to enjoy a friendship with His children is at the heart of this book.
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My Adopted Child, There’s No One Like You by Dr. Kevin Leman (Younger Child)
Every child is special. And every child deserves to be recognized for what makes him or her unique. Now birth order guru, Dr. Kevin Leman, and his artist son, Kevin Leman II, offer parents the perfect way to tell their adopted child just how wonderful he or she is. A read-to-me children’s picture book, My Adopted Child, There’s No One Like You conveys love, acceptance, and a sense of individuality to adopted children.
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The Tallest of Smalls by Max Lucado (Younger Child)
A delightful rhyming story about the Too-Smalls who live in the Stiltsville. Every evening a six, the Too-Smalls meet in the square where they hope they’ll be picked to receive stilts to strut about above the stilt-less masses below. They come to see if they matter-if they’re awesome, if they’re pretty, if they’re clever, or funny. Ollie, the smallest of too-smalls, pleas to be picked. He wants to be like the high-ups of Stiltsville who are proud of their stilts, the ultimate status. But once he gets stilts, oh how it hurts when he stumbles and tumbles and loses his stilts. That is . . . until he meets Jesus who chose low over high telling him, “Keep your feet on the ground. You matter already.”
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You are Special by Max Lucado (Younger Child)
In You Are Special, Max Lucado tells the story of Punchinello, the wooden Wemmick who believes that he isn’t good enough because of what others say about him. When will Punchinello realize how truly special he is? You Are Special is a beautiful story that reminds us that we are precious to God just the way we are. It is through spending daily time with him that we begin to see ourselves through his eyes. This is an important truth that children and parents need to know: God loves us even though we make mistakes and have flaws!
Books on if you were Adopted
(See also Children’s Books on Adoption, many of them work for this category as well)
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Adoption by Fred Rogers (any child)
Fred Rogers opens the door for adopted children and their parents to safely talk about their good and sometimes not-so-good feelings in a book about the joy of belonging and the love that unites families.
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Being Adopted by Maxine Rosenberg (Adult/Older Teen – Novel format so need to be able to read)
Several young children recount their experiences as adopted members of their families.
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Families are Different by Nina Pellegrini (Adult/Older Teen – Biography format so need to be able to read)
Nico and Angel were adopted from Korea when they were babies. Nico struggles with her own identity sometimes until she realizes that just like everyone else — she is different
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Finding Miracles by Julia Alvarez (Novel)
MILLY KAUFMAN IS an ordinary American teenager living in Vermont until she meets Pablo, a new student at her high school. His exotic accent, strange fashion sense, and intense interest in Milly force her to confront her identity as an adopted child from Pablo s native country. As their relationship grows, Milly decides to undertake a courageous journey to her homeland and along the way discovers the story of her birth is intertwined with the story of a country recovering from a brutal history.
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Gathering the Missing Pieces in an Adopted Life by Kay Moore (Adult/Older Teen – Biography format so need to be able to read)
This book brims cover to cover with true stories of trial and triumph in the search for birth families by adoptees.
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Invisible Threads by Annie and Maria Dalton (Novel)
Naomi was never going to be like her mother. The crazy highs and underground lows. Naomi was in control. When the time came she would be the perfect mother nothing like her own. On the day Carrie-Anne turned 16, she surpassed her. The girl-woman who gave away her own child. Her biological mother. Carrie-Anne got to 16 without making that mistake. That s what she was, really a mistake. And now the invisible threads tying her to the past are driving her to find out why and how it happened. After all, if you don t know where you come from, how can you know where you belong? But sometimes asking questions is harder than hearing the answers. And sometimes the answers don t matter at all.
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The Language of Blood by Jane Jeong Trenka (Adult – Biography format so need to be able to read)
Trenka remembers with gross delight headless chickens dancing around until collapse at her adoptive family’s farm. She writes, “I wanted my head to be removed, a metaphor so strong that only later did I realize that it was not a death wish at all…. What I longed for was wholeness, for my body to be as white and Northern Minnesotan as my mind.” Original and beautifully written reflections like these fill Trenka’s memoir, a brave exploration of her identity as a Korean adoptee and pensive young woman trying to negotiate between two mothers and two lives. She traces her life from young, eager-to-please child to questioning adolescent. Once at college, she is stalked by an acquaintance with a sick fascination with her Asian heritage, forcing her to ask important questions about exoticization and violence. Finally, she brings readers with her to Korea, where she is reunited with her birth mother and homeland. Unlike some first-time writers, Trenka is unafraid with her prose and rarely falls into clich?s, which is especially admirable given the subject matter. She brazenly dabbles with playwriting, screenwriting, crossword puzzles, myths and dream sequences throughout her account. Her journey, from the conservative Christian roots of rural Minnesota to her cramped and corrupt homeland of Korea, is winding, but it ends at an important place for both reader and writer: transformation. She writes, “I have made it my task to reconstruct the text of a family with context clues, and my intent is… to trust in the mysterious; to juxtapose the known with the unknown; to collect the overlooked.”
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Second Choice by Robert Anderson (Adult – Biography format so need to be able to read)
Book written on what it was like growing up adopted
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Slant by Laura E. Williams (Older Child)
Thirteen-year-old Lauren, a Korean-American adoptee, is tired of being called “slant” and “gook,” and longs to have plastic surgery on her eyes, but when her father finds out about her wish–and a long-kept secret about her mother’s death is revealed–Lauren starts to question some of her own assumptions. *there is some language and more mature content (talk about suicide) in this book
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Someone To Love by Francess Lantz (Teenager)
Although at odds with her parents over their decision to adopt a baby, fifteen-year-old Sarah finds herself drawn to the birth mother, who is having second thoughts about giving up her child.
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Take Me With You by Carolyn Marsden (Older Child)
Set in Naples, Italy, following World War II, this lyrical novel follows the friendship of two orphaned girls–one biracial–and touches on themes of identity and the meaning of home.
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Together Again by Carolyn Campbell (Adult/Older Teen – Biography format so need to be able to read)
A woman sets out to learn the truth about her troubled birth family at the urging of her adopted father … A mother who’d been trapped in a cycle of abuse seeks her long-lost children…A woman who had dreamed for years of a stable, loving family sees new hope. These true stories from the files of International Locator, Inc. — known to millions as the search organization that has appeared on virtually every national talk show in America — let us share in their drama…and their triumph.
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Who am I? by Charlene Giannetti (Adult/Older Teen – Biography type format so need to be able to read)
Discusses various issues connected with adoption, such as the meaning of adoption, the reasons why birthparents give up a child, and the search for birthparents.
Becoming a transracial family (all Adult/Older Teen unless indicated differently)
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Adopting the Hurt Child: Hope for Families with Special-Needs KidsA Guide for Parents and Professionals by Gregory C Keck and Regina Kupecky
To Love a Child is the heartwarming story of one man’s commitment to a child that had been declared not adoptable. Then three years old, the child was born addicted to drugs, his mother had been murdered, and he had been dubbed all but a throwaway. Here, writer Schwarz chronicles the events of one remarkable year?from the day before he met his son to the day the courts legalized the adoption. During that time, the Schwarzes took in another child. Exhibiting a broad range of experience, Keck, founder of a treatment center for children with developmental problems, and Kupecky, Ohio’s 1990 Adoption Worker of the Year, together examine many issues affecting today’s adoptive families.
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Are those Kids Yours? By Cheri Register (Older book, but information good – Any Kid)
Cherie Register drawns on her experience as the mother of two Korean-born daughters and interviews with adoptive families to illustated the special challenges multicultural families face.
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Attaching in Adoption by Deborah D. Gray
Gray, a clinical social worker specializing in attachment, grief and trauma, has penned a comprehensive guidebook for adoptive parents, taking an in-depth look at how children and families adjust. The author notes that many of today’s adoptions involve older children who may have been abused or neglected, or who may have spent years in institutions or various foster situations; due to their past experiences these children may have difficulty attaching to their adoptive parents. Explaining that attachment forms the template for future adult relationships, Gray stresses how important it is for adoptive parents to be patient in forging this new bond. She advises creating a high structure/ high nurture environment for the child, and instructs parents to find out about their child’s background. The book covers many issues, including cross-cultural and interracial adoption, religious concerns and other complications for attaching, such as ADHD and learning disabilities. Gray also includes a detailed exploration of developmental delays common in kids who have been adopted later in life. While the book is densely written, it will nevertheless be invaluable for adoptive parents. Gray compassionately helps readers form realistic expectations, while offering a myriad of suggestions for families and children striving to form lasting, loving relationships.
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China Ghosts: My Daughter’s Journey to America, My Passage to Fatherhood by Jeff Gammage (True Story)
As more Americans adopt Chinese children, the bookshelves fill with firsthand accounts of their experiences. Perhaps because many adoptions are preceded by infertility issues, most of these memoirs are written by women. So this, a father’s account of going to China with his wife to adopt their first and second daughters, is particularly useful. Gammage, a staff writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer, had been happily married without children for many years, although he knew his wife really wanted children. By the time they discovered they couldn’t have biological children, the best option was adopting from China. While there were tensions over their first daughter’s medical problems (an infected scalp injury), both adoptions went reasonably smoothly. Back home, Gammage wrestled with his mixed feelings about the birth parents and his “burden of good fortune,” that guilty knowledge that his own happiness came from someone else’s misfortune. Realizing that his own relationship to China was being shaped by the process of raising two Chinese girls, he ends this upbeat memoir by wondering about the impact of this new wave of immigrants on the future of Sino-American relations.
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The Complete Book of International Adoption by Dawn Davenport (True Stories)
The go-to guide for everything you want to know about international adoption From the initial decision Is adoption right for you? Through returning home with your child How can you ease the transition? The Complete Book of International Adoption takes parents step by step through the entire process of adopting a child from another country. You will find: • An easy-to-understand analysis of the differences between domestic and international adoption • Advice on choosing a country, including 25 important factors to consider, such as the waiting times involved and the estimated costs for each of the top placing countries, with charts for easy comparison • A detailed discussion of the potential health issues based on the latest research and interviews with doctors who specialize in international adoption • Worksheets and a suggested system for preparing and organizing the extensive paperwork involved • Parenting tips to enhance attachment and suggestions for addressing the issues that come up in raising an internationally adopted child • Real parents stories and advice at every stage of the process • Plus all of the information you need to select your agency, plan financially, prepare for the home study, travel sensibly, evaluate your child s health and integrate your new family More than just provide the facts, The Complete Book of International Adoption also helps parents manage the emotional rollercoaster that comes with the territory. Sensitive, wise, and often witty, this book is a must-have for any parent considering building their family through adoption.
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Dim Sum, Bagels, and Grits: A Sourcebook for Multicultural Families by Myra Alperson
Alperson’s sourcebook to multiculturalism offers families the first complete guide to the tangled questions that surround this important phenomenon. As an adoptive mother, Alperson focuses on adoptive families, and provides guidelines on how families can prepare for their exciting journey toward becoming multicultural.
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Families of Adoption by Joyce Maguire Pavao
Dr. Joyce Maguire Pavao is a pioneering and nationally recognized family and adoption therapist who, with The Family of Adoption, is the first to demonstrate that there are predictable and understandable developmental stages and challenges for all adopted people. She lays them out by age level, showing, for instance, how and why daydreaming is a normal strategy for adoptees, how particular academic subjects may create pain for adopted children, and why so many adopted adolescents experiment with the “wrong crowd”. Pavao shows us why adoptive parents, as well as teachers and therapists and all who work with children, must come to understand these developmental stages as normal — though challenging — for adopted children. She writes with equal insight of the “birth rites” of both biological and adoptive parents; of how adoption does not cure infertility, but childlessness; and of healing rites for birth parents who must give up the parenting of their child. The Family of Adoption is a timely and powerful argument for the right kind of “openness”, and truly the most insightful and healing book on the adoption shelf.
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Inside Transracial Adoption by Gail Steinberg
An Adoption Alliance offer their dynamic organization’s cutting edge tools for fostering honesty and authenticity in matters of adoption and race. Acknowledging white identity issues for transracial adopters and demonstrating predictable milestones in the journey toward adulthood for transracially-adopted infants, preschoolers, school-age children, teens and young adults, Inside Transracial Adoption offers provocative information, valuable resources and practical tools to support families in fostering the development of racial identity of children of color and in the strengthening of family connections. An early reader commented “Singularly this book has given me more hope about parenting (my daughter) than all the social workers, therapists and teachers have put together. I wept tears of relief as I read this book. Not only did you name it, but you truly understand what living with a transracially adopted child is like. And! you give suggestions and solutions!!!
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The Lost Daughters of China by Karin Evans (True Story)
In 1997 journalist Karin Evans walked into an orphanage in southern China and met her new daughter, a beautiful one-year-old baby girl. In this fateful moment Evans became part of a profound, increasingly common human drama that links abandoned Chinese girls with foreigners who have traveled many miles to complete their families. At once a compelling personal narrative and an evocative portrait of contemporary China, The Lost Daughters of China has also served as an invaluable guide for thousands of readers as they navigated the process of adopting from China. However, much has changed in terms of the Chinese government’s policies on adoption since this book was originally published and in this revised and updated edition Evans addresses these developments. Also new to this edition is a riveting chapter in which she describes her return to China in 2000 to adopt her second daughter who was nearly three at the time. Many of the first girls to be adopted from China are now in the teens (China only opened its doors to adoption in the 1990s), and this edition includes accounts of their experiences growing up in the US and, in some cases, of returning to China in search of their roots. Illuminating the real-life stories behind the statistics, The Lost Daughters of China is an unforgettable account of the red thread that winds form China’s orphanages to loving families around the globe.
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Love in the Driest Season by Neely Tucker (True Story)
As a foreign correspondent, Tucker had worked in conflict zones on two continents and seen death in all its gruesome forms. “The steady stream of violence had worn away my natural sense of compassion to the point where I could cover almost any horror but felt very little about anything at all.” Then, in 1997, Neely, a white Mississippian, and his African-American wife, Vita, were posted to Zimbabwe, where the AIDS crisis was feeding an unprecedented wave of sick and abandoned children. “The scale of death, and the depths of misery it entailed, defied the imagination even for someone like me….” Neely and Vita volunteered at an overwhelmed orphanage in the Zimbabwean capital, where diarrhea and pneumonia were killing babies at an alarming rate. Nobody dared whisper the word AIDS, though its specter hung over every crib. Here, Neely and Vita met Chipo, a desperately sick baby girl who had been abandoned under a tree. With temporary permission to take her home, Neely and Vita threw all available resources toward saving her life: round-the-clock feedings, good doctors, medicine and a clean, warm environment. She thrived. Neely and Vita decided to adopt Chipo, only to discover a slew of cultural taboos against adoption by foreigners-a white foreigner in particular. While Chipo grew healthy and fat under their care, the Tuckers negotiated a nightmarish bureaucracy that threatened to tear Chipo away from them; meanwhile, Zimbabwe was entering a period of civil unrest that targeted Americans and journalists. This is a gorgeous mix of family memoir and reportage that traverses the big issues of politics, racism and war.
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Our Own by Trish Maskew
Drawing on the author’s experiences and interviews with dozens of adoptive families and professionals, this handbook of older child adoption covers attachment, family adjustment, remedies for difficult behaviors, language acquisition, birth family and cultural ties, grief, and other “core” adoption issues.
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Parenting Adopted Adolescents: Understanding and Appreciating Their Journeys by Gregory C Keck and Regina Kupecky
In his newest release, Dr. Gregory C. Keck offers new insights and parenting strategies relative to adolescents, especially adopted adolescents. Parents will find humor and relief as they realize their role in their child’s journey.
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Parenting Your Internationally Adopted Child by Patty Cogen
Parenting Your Internationally Adopted Child is a remarkably comprehensive and useful resource for both parents and practitioners. This book is a wise roadmap that anyone adopting internationally should have for easy reference. It gives advice for the first few months until the teenage years.
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The Primal Wound by Nancy Newton Verrier
The Primal Wound is a book which is revolutionizing the way we think about adoption. In its application of information about pre- and perinatal psychology, attachment, bonding, and loss, it clarifies the effects of separation from the birth mother on adopted children. In addition, it gives those children, whose pain has long been unacknowledged or misunderstood, validation for their feelings, as well as explanations for their behavior.
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Singing Bird by Roisin McAuley (Novel)
A mother secretly searches for the birth parents of her adopted daughter, uncovering along the way shattering twists that will change her life and her family forever.
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Somebody’s Daughter by Marie Myung-Ok Lee (Novel)
It is the tale of two women: Sarah Thorson, a young Korean American college student who had been adopted by a couple in Minnesota; and Kyung-Sook, an older Korean woman living in the village of Enduring Pine. Their parallel stories intertwine slowly as the reader discovers that Kyung-Sook is Sarah’s birth mother. It is Sarah’s mission in Korea to find her, but the two pass each other at Chosun University.
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A Treasury of Adoption Miracles by Karen Kingsbury (True Stories)
Bestselling author Karen Kingsbury offers an inspiring collection of true stories to remind readers that God is present in every adoption.
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Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wish their Adoptive Parents Knew by Sherrie Eldridge
As both an adoptee and president of Jewel Among Jewels Adoption Network, Eldridge brings an original approach to the topic of adoption. In an attempt to inform adoptive parents of the unique issues adoptees face, she discusses adoptee anger, mourning, and shame and adoption acknowledgment while using case studies to illustrate how parents can better relate to their adopted child. This book is solidly written but not without its flaws; most importantly, it lacks information concerning child development, e.g., whether parents should use the same approach to questions with a three-year-old as with a 14-year-old.
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Two Little Girls: A Memoir of Adoption by Theresa Reid (True Story)
In Chicago, Theresa Reid and her husband had lucrative careers and a beautiful home. What was missing from their lives was children. But they knew in Eastern Europe, there were children who were missing parents-and they set out to find their family. This is Theresa’s account of how Natalie and Lana came to be her daughters-a journey that takes readers not only to Moscow and Kiev but into the deepest parts of a mother’s heart. Reid addresses the issues that arise for many an adoptive parent- including the guilt over taking children away from their roots, and the slow, stumbling steps toward trust and tenderness that played out between them. For any parent, adoptive or not, this book offers not only a compelling story but valuable insights into the transformative power of loving a child.
Other
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Gianna by Jessica Shaver Renshaw
The incredible true story of one girl’s remarkable and courageous journey from abortion survivor to steadfast defender of life. This book isn’t about issues—it’s about a young woman’s determination to make the most of her God-given opportunities. Gianna Jessen has been a guest on numerous radio and television programs. She travels frequently, sharing her testimony through word and song. Speaking for those who can’t, she brings encouragement and hope to youth and adult audiences.
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Reasonable People: a Memoir of Autism and Adoption by Ralph James Savarese (True Story)
Savarese, a writer and professor at Grinnell College, writes a moving account of his family’s adoption of DJ, an abused, autistic youngster. Throughout, he describes the process of helping DJ communicate with the world and discusses larger issues of the rights of people with neurological differences. Savarese’s wife, an autism professional, first encountered DJ when he was only two and a half; by the time they could adopt him, three years later, he’d lived in several homes and been badly abused in foster care. Because he didn’t speak, people were unaware of what he’d suffered; some doubted he even could suffer, believing the myth that the autistic have no sense of self or others. As the Savareses worked with their son, teaching him to sign and to use “facilitated communication” with a keyboard, they learned more about his very deep thoughts and feelings. As they fought to include him in mainstream classrooms, they also struggled with his emerging demons: his memories of abuse, his pain from parental abandonment. Savarese writes with passion and humor, careful to include extensive excerpts from DJ’s typing, so readers get a sense of his remarkable growth.