Adoption Books

This one sat next to the 'Bible' in class and at home. The Lingo dictionary if you would...
Now to see if they have an updated version.

I can't emphasize enough how I would encourage readers NOT to purchase this book. Not only is it out of date (to no fault of its author), but it is incredibly disorganized (directly the fault of its author). This, however, is not unusual for O'Reilly books which are notorious for a general lack of order and the inclusion of irrelevant material. Should you ignore my advice, I'm certain you'll find yourself flipping back and forth as you read each chapter in succession, as nothing is covered ("Refer to Chapter X for details on X" is something you run into practically on every page) in cohesive chunks. And you'll also get other useful tips like "Experiment until you have a firm grasp of when the different handlers in different scripts are being called or until you are totally confused. Then start with new movie, and try it all again." That little gem applies equally as well to reading the book as it does to handling Lingo's archaic structure...

This is a wonderful book, but don't make the samae mistake I did. I didn't look close enough, and it is OUTDATED. It is for Director 6. The most recent version is 8.5...and they are totally different.

Beware if you're buying this book, it covers lingo up to version 6, and director's most recent version is 8.5.

This book was written for Director 6.5, and currently Director is past 8.5 (MX is basically Director 9). So forget about anything about behaviors, library palette, anything 3D.. in short, this book was out of date 5 years ago.

Beyond this, the nutshell library is designed as a reference for programmers who want to quick-reference a new language. If you're already up to speed on C++, Java, SQL, etc, then the nutshell format will make sense as you seehow Director includes functions and classes in the form of handlers and properties. However, for the novice programmer looking to learn more about scripting Lingo, this book is awful.

I'd recommend the Director Demystified series instead, whatever's the latest edition. Macromedia's version updates aren't drastic, so at this point a book covering 8.5 is just fine.

Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans. It is a true and it is those moments that slip by to a common eye, but it is those small, exact moments that Lori Jakiela captures vividly and honestly in this book. .

Whether it be it riding the bus to school with a steel town kid who banked his Hollywood dream on being an extra in Romero's "Dawn of the Dead" or in the simple exchange between herself and her neighbor while leaving New York City for an ailing father back in Trafford, Pa, Jakiela uses these small moments to capture the bigger truth. This is a book everyone to which everyone can relate.

This well-written litte memoir was an enjoyable read. Lori's childhood with her parents in the Pittsburgh area, visited by a drug-addicted aunt of a nun and ruled by Polish-Catholic norms molded this young woman to what many girls back in the 1960s dreamed of: independence, New York and a boyfriend with clean, long hair. Although she can say she lived her dream, her dream wasn't all what she thought it was until she returned to her hometown after her dad's death, got married, had kids and wrote her memoirs.

The airline years were barely half the book, most of her stories were about her childhood, then teenaged years, college and the years as a small-town writer hanging out with unambitious men on drugs. She didn't sound very happy for many years, she always kept that elusive dream in the back of her head of making it big as a writer in New York. It was answering a Delta airlines ad that brought her to New York, but the high-flying years were never that exciting as she thought they would be.

I enjoyed this book as I could relate to many episodes: the worthless boyfriends, the drinking, the dreams of New York and other exotic places, the wonderings of weird family members who always drop in when you least want them to. But her life seemed to drag a bit after her college years and I'm glad that in the end all worked out afterall, and she no longer yearned for New York when her happiness came to her later back in western Pennsylvania.

I'm glad she wrote this book, if only to give other young women hope that there's always more outside of one's hometown, but that one's hometown is always open to you. "You can't go back home" in this case didn't ring true.

The sometimes hilarious, sometimes not memoir of a woman who has spent much of her young life as a flight attendant. Many people envy the life of a flight attendant, thinking they have the best of all worlds, getting to stop off in New York, London, Paris, etc. etc. all in one day. This behind-the-scenes look reveals what those lonely flights are really like, what it's like to never get to see the cities that are just outside your door each day, what it's like to sign up for a job that you think is going to show you everything and bring loads of excitement, but then doesn't.

-- Reviewed by Jonathan Stephens

After reading a few chapters of this book, I was a little disappointed. "Miss New York Has Everything" is promoted as the story of a small-town girl who becomes a flight attendant in order to live in New York--but the first half of the book is devoted to Jakiela's childhood and upbringing in a quirky American family in Trafford, Pennsylvania. Don't get me wrong: there's nothing wrong with the first part. It's funny and quite lovely. It's just not what I expected when I bought the book.

I had to wait approximately 130 pages for Jakiela to move to New York, where she finds a life that's absolutely lacking in the glamour she envisioned while watching Marlo Thomas in "That Girl." While traveling around the world, sleeping in horrible hotels, cleaning after rude passengers or looking for love in all the wrong places, Jakiela is someone you like, someone you find yourself rooting for. The end of the book was touching and moving without ever being maudlin. And it's nice to know that even though she no longer lives here, Lori Jakiela still loves New York as much as I do.

Do you ever pick up a book and know a few pages into it that you are reading something special? I didn't know where the story was going, which is befitting a good story-- but I could relate to everything that happens in this endearing memoir. It is a book about life's dreams and disappointments, reality, relationships, family and growing up ("coming of age"). Lori Jakiela has written this book with grace and humor and an embarrassingly honest demeaner.

An excellent first novel. Easy reading plus gaining insight into different cultures and lives. Would recommend this for all ages.
Lovely, intertaining, understanding prejudices, and finally love.

I literally just finished A Brief Chapter in My Impossible Life
By Dana Reinhardt and had to post about it. I started off not being all that impressed. I purchased it for my middle school library and when I started reading it I felt it was not really appropriate for this age group due to the drinking and sex in the beginning. The more I read though the more I enjoyed the book. Although I would not suggest it to the younger middle schoolers, I think it would be a great book for students 14 and up. It would be especially appropriate for anyone who has dealt with adoption.
It is a beautiful story of family and finding one's self. It also does a great job of including lessons on Judism without turning the book into "Jewish Book". The story brought me to tears without being morbidly sad saccharine sweet. I would give this book a 4 1/2 out of 5 stars.

Sixteen-year-old Simone has always known she was adopted but has never questioned it. She's aware of her dark features in her family of blond hair and fair skin. Her "parents" have talked to her about her birth mother, a woman named Rivka, but Simone has never wanted to learn more simply because she's happy with the family she has.

Then, one day, Rivka calls and wants to get in contact with Simone. With her parents urging her along, Simone is going to face her past--her real mother, her real family, and her true cultural background.

This book was a real treat to read. I enjoyed the different scenes and elements it contained: Simone meeting Rivka and learning the story of her adoption; Simone speaking up for her beliefs (she's an atheist who supports abortion); and Simone dealing with her high school crush.

All in all, this is a book definitely worth reading.

Reviewed by: Safia Abdul

Sixteen-year-old Simone has always known that she is adopted and that her birth mother is a woman named Rivka. But, when Simone learns that Rivka is the daughter of a Hasidic Rabbi who accidentally got pregnant as a teenager, Simone's whole life and identity is turned up-side down. As Simone gets to know Rivka, who is dying from ovarian cancer, she also learns about Judaism, celebrating Shabbat, Hanukkah, and Passover, experiences her first relationship with a boy, and comes to terms with her own spiritual identity. Reinhardt's characters are smart, sassy, realistic American teenagers and her portrayal of a warm, loving, functional adoptive family is refreshing. Highly readable, fast-paced, and thought-provoking, A Brief Chapter in My Impossible Life will be enjoyed by YA readers of all faiths.

Simone Turner-Bloom is your average above-average teenager. She has a mother, a father and a younger brother. She lives in an upper middle class home and is an excellent student with a gift for math. But, Simone is different from most of her peers in one significant way. She's adopted and doesn't look like her parents or her brother. This doesn't bother her much, because she's happy in her family and really feels an integral part of the Turner-Bloom home.

One day, however, Simone's parents tell her that her birth mother, Rivka, wants to meet her. Simone struggles with this decision for months until, finally, she agrees to invite Rivka to Thanksgiving dinner. And, guess what? Simone finds herself drawn to her young birth mother and they begin a close relationship as Simone finds out about her past from her birth mother. Part of Rivka's past is Judaism, and atheist Simone is drawn to Rivka's practice of Judaism and its culture.

There's a hitch, however, in this happy new relationship and it is the reason Rivka sought Simone out before adulthood. Rivka's sick with ovarian cancer and only has months to live. And, in the background of these momentous changes in Simone's life are everyday teenage challenges--first kisses, boyfriends, a friend's family troubles, etc.

"a brief chapter in my impossible life" is different from most YA fiction in one, very unique way. Everyone involved--from Simone, to her friends and family, past and present--is essentially good. There's no abuse, alcoholism, or cutting in this book. It's a gorgeous examination of what happens when an extraordinary, but perfectly understandable, event challenges an essentially good, well-meaning teen.

Reviewers write a lot about how YA fiction offers much to teens who are struggling with issues, but books like "a brief chapter in my impossible life" are important too. Simone and her story, minus the adoption and math genius issues, are easily recognizable to me and I suspect will be to many teen readers.

"a brief chapter in my impossible life" is a beautifully written story. Simone's voice is strong and sympathetic. "a brief chapter in my impossible life" reminded me most of Justina Chen Headley's "Nothing But the Truth (and a few white lies)." Both are highly recommended.

I just want to say I am 35 years old and I love the Sweep series. I love the price too! I have lent them to a 25 year old friend who loves them just as much, and now my 17 year old niece is reading them. None of us have been able to put them down once we pick one up. I am collecting the set, but am a bit frustrated that the new editions haven't all been released yet. I found the first editions for cheap and snatched them up because none of us can wait to see how things end up. Great reads, highly recommend for teens on up!

I read these books at school, and wow! I fell in love since reading the first one. So far i am on book 6 and i love them! I love the characters and there is always a good plot.

After 16 years of being a Rowlands, Morgan finds out she's adopted and that her parents have been lying to her all along! But why? Why would they keep such a secret from her, if not for a good reason?

In the week from hell, she breaks ties with Bree over Cal, starting an all-out girl war that splits the coven. Following up on the brief glimpse of her real mother's name on her birth certificate, Morgan embarks on a dangerous journey of discovery. Whoever holds the key to her parents death, will also seal her fate.
Now Morgan has to watch her back, and absorb as much majick as she can in order to defend herself. No easy task, trying to fit Wicca in with calculus, church, an active social and home life.

Tiernan's Sweep novels are carefully crafted to reflect real teenage issues, without being irreverent. Her characters are cast with subtle shades of adulthood and common sense, when put under extraordinary circumstances without the cheesiness of "The Craft". Morgan is a highly likeable heroine, and each reader will rip through each page to get to the next book.

It is very hard to type a review for all of the sweep books and try to say something different instead of that it is great! Moprgan and her friends get introduced more into the life of Wicca. This book has romance, suspense and a wild turn at the end that wants you to run to the nearest book store and get the next one.
This book is great and you should read it, along with the others of course.

In the first book of the series we saw Morgan become exposed to Wicca and learn that she has strong powers and is a blood witch (witch by heredity).

In this book, Morgan must learn more about herself. During an argument with her parents who want her to stop her Wicca studies, she confronts them with the blood witch idea. They deny it and she finally learns that she was adopted.

The rest of the book has Morgan trying to come to terms with her adoption, the fact she wasn't told about it, her relationship with Cal Blaire and possibly ex-friend Bree. All this while also learning about her powers and that not everyone in the world of magic is friendly.

A very nice book that really surprised me in how well it was written, how the characters act, and some of the subjects brought up. All in all, a very nice book.

SHERRIE, THANK YOU FOR YOUR BEAUTIFUL BOOK, Twenty Life Tansforming Choices Adoptees Need to Make. I cannot express enough my gratitude to you.

I am an Adult Adoptee from Hong Kong, and was abandoned on the street and lived in an orphanage for the first 2 years of my life. I was very lucky to be adopted into the US by my Caucasian American parents, whom I love very deeply.

Nonetheless, the repressed pain of abandonement and rejection has recently surfaced. I had bought other books on adoption, but they were so clinical and sterile, I lost interest in them. I never finished reading those books.

But Sherrie's book IS AMAZING. I could not put it down!!! It is very well written, deeply personal and very emotional. I needed to read EVERY WORD she WROTE. When she expressed her thoughts and feelings, she articulated unspoken thoughts I had always felt, but never could define.

She has alot of clinical information in her book, which is important for me, since I am a Ph.D. student in Neurophysiology. Being trained as a scientist, I do need to have studies to back up hypothesis or suppositions.

Sherrie's book has helped me alot to grieve and cry. Her book was hard for me to get through, b/c it triggered alot of violent volcanic emotions that had been deeply repressed. But I know that grieving and forgiveness is the key to true freedom. It is just very hard work to do. But once done, I felt 10 lbs lighter and 10 years younger!!

Sherrie's book is leading us to our divinity, wholeness, self-healing, and self-awareness... which is a painful but exhilarating journey.

Sherrie does make reference to the Bible and Christianity to guide her. Though, I am an SGI-USA Buddhist and chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo as my form of prayer to the Universal Power, her book was still very helpful to me.

Sherrie also lists many helpful Adoptee organizations in the Appendix of her book. I hope to join an Adult Adoptee Support Group to continue my journey to wholeness.

Sherrie's book is a powerful guiding light in this deeply mis-understood topic of the pain that Adult Adoptees endure. Sherrie speaks for all of us in her book, and this book has saved my life.

If you want answers, comfort, empathy, sympathy, love, support, healing, and hope in dealing with being an Adoptee, GET THIS BOOK!!! YOU WILL NOT BE SORRY!!!

This book is very insightful and I believe it would be helpful to adoptees. I highly recommend it.

Eldridge succeeds at presenting the unique issues related to adoptees. Without lessening the valuable, honest experiences of adoptees captured by Eldridge in her book, I found the constant reference to biblical sources, and 'God' related advice rather disturbing, and detrimental to my confidence in her methods. At the end of each chapter, Eldridge presents a 'choice' to adoptees for ways to move forward given the emotional issue of each chapter. In Chapter 18, 'The Silver Lining in the Cloud of Rejection', Eldridge offers the following 'choice' to adoptees standing under the 'dark cloud of rejection'--'To focus on God's promises to provide for us as orphans'. This is where the book lost me, and ultimately drove me to write this review, wondering if there are not secular solutions to these issues that are equally valuable? They are not represented in this book. Maybe a 'religion' label on the book would have been helpful. There is not a single mention of the Christian slant anywhere on its jacket etc.

I am an adoptee searching for my birth family and an adoptive mother of a 5 year old. Sherrie's book went right to my heart and soul. She is making me life outside my box and get involved in adoption issues. I am writing a article for the agency I used to adopt my child, volunteering for camp, and getting the adoption issue message out thanks to Sherrie's Book. Can't wait to get her other book and read it. Keep writing to all who are touched by adoption, which I believe is a huge percentage of our population. Our children are our greatest resourse and the future. And to the reviewers who are offended by the religious messages, get a life. God Created us all with a divine plan in mind and this is part of growing and living with adoption. Thanks Serrie and keep writing for us all. We need any and all things related to adoption for our families. Bobbi Humphreys Herrick Arvada, CO USA

On reading Sherrie Eldridges book I was amazed at seeing what could have been my own words staring back at me. Sherries book made me realize that i am not alone in my thoughts and feelings on adoption, and that the process we go through to come to terms with our own stories and situations is indeed normal.
Thank you Sherrie and keep up the good work
Fran

The book is dated by it's pictures, but the information is still pertinent. This is a wonderful tool we will use for walking our future daughter through the beginning of her life.

helpful for anyone wanting to understand the political and human side of Chinese adoption.

This is such a beautiful book which explains (but doesn't going into too much of the painful details) the environment of China and the adoption process. Also, it brings up what is very obvious to children adopted from China that one of the main reasons for there being primarily girls available for adoption is the preference for boys in traditional china. It explains the chinese love towards girls but their need for sons in a way that will not send your child into tears. I highly recommend this book for all adopting, but especially from China. The photos are beautiful and your heart will be touched everytime you pick this up.

Great book to take to China during your adoption!

I took this book with me to China during the adoption of our daughter. I used it like a yearbook having everyone I came into contact with sign it or write in it.

The story is priceless.

As we adopted a little boy from China there are few books that address boys being adopted. I like how this book mentioned several scenarios for why children are adopted in China. One being boys& girls with medical conditions and that fits our son's situation perfectly. Sweet pictures and straight forward. A very nice book!

This is the first book by this author that I've read. I have mixed feelings about it. It took place in London, my favorite city, but I had a couple of problems with the plot.

It seems unbelievable that Kyra never told her twin brother, Kyle, the circumstances of Jesse's adoption at the time it happened.

Mentions of Kyra's weight became boring. I don't think it needed to be brought up as often as it was.

The ending was a surprise and completely unexpected. I re-read the last few chapters this morning just to be sure I got it right. I think I'll give it some time and read again.

This was my 8th and last Charlotte Vale Allen book. My sister is a devoted fan of Ms. Vale Allen's works, and I've tried to share her love of Ms. Allen's plotting and characterazations. However, Ms. Vale Allen's improbable views towards parenting and the role that parents play in the lives of their children, leave much to be desired.

Yes, there are flawed parents out there, and children who are far wiser than their family units. I'm all for realism in literature, but in eight novels, read at random, all with the protagonist being a potential victim of at the hands of a "stupid" mother and a "brilliant but psychotic" father; I'd have to say enough already!

Charlotte Vale Allen engages the reader of Parting Gifts with a moving tale of the profits and losses of love. A family drama set mostly in late twentieth century London, Parting Gifts involves a theatrical extended family. Kyra, a large woman with a heart to match, first loses her pilot husband of 10 years in a hit-and-run accident outside their New York apartment. While she is mourning his loss, a young woman arrives on her doorstep with her "grandchild". Unable to have children, but anxious to build a family, Kyra adopts Jesse. Her three-year old son is temporarily mute, the victim of abuse and neglect. Kyra and Jesse move to London to welcome the support of her actress mother; director father; and twin actor brother. Kyra's costume design career flourishes as her son blossoms as a budding writer--published at age twelve. Allen involves the reader with the conflicts of a loving family and avoids the standard platitudes of love lost, while dealing with issues of abuse, death and serious illness. One hopes that this novel is not Allen's Parting Gifts for readers eager for more well-written tomes.

Kyra Latimer lost her husband to a freak accident in Manhattan. She is in deep shock and cannot imagine how she will ever cope without the husband she loved so much. Now their plans for adopting a child would be gone forever. Until one day.

A young woman appears out of the blue with a small boy in town. She says that she was the child Kyra gave up years ago, and that she is Jesse's grandmother. Kyra knows this isn't true at all, yet seeing the obvious neglect of the boy pulled at her heartstrings. Kyra agrees to keep Jesse then-and takes on an instant role as his mother.

Jesse is no ordinary child as it turns out though, and Kyra no ordinary mom. Jesse becomes ill later on with the worst possible challenge-kidney failure. It is then that Kyra is forced to confront an impossible choice, and that is whether to honor her son's decision on not receiving medical treatment to save his life.

A VERY absorbing book. I enjoyed every moment of reading it.

It fascinated me to see the negative reviews that complain angrily about the ending of this book. What seems obvious from these angry negatives is that these amateur reviewers are people who would insist on making their children's decisions, without regard for the wishes of the children. What is distinctive, always, about Allen's writing is that she's prepared to take risks that other, more commercial writers, would never dream of trying. She invariably has her characters behave in ways that are faithful to the narrative she has structured. Parting Gifts is a grown-up book that deals with grown-up issues: of the lasting effects of child abuse (which, as a former victim, she knows all too well), of the fears and concerns common to so many women, and, always, of the conflicts between mothers and daughters as well as the tangled ties that bind them together. This is a richly rewarding book, heartfelt and affecting, and well worth reading.

Don't Think Twice is about Anne, a young girl who was always good in school and never got in trouble. She was always the smart one in the family and her father was always proud of her. All she did was make one bad decision and now her life turned upside down. Anne is pregnant and living in an unwed mothers home, where she faces the difficulties of being pregnant and depressed. Anne also faces the decision of whether or not she is going to keep the baby. Anne tries to have no feeling for the baby that is growing larger in her womb everyday, but as the book moves on, deep down inside she starts to feel something for the baby. Will Anne keep her baby, or will she leave and never think twice?
I thought this was a very good book. Unfortunately, you can walk down the streets if many places and see young girls that are unwed, and pregnant. This book helped me to understand the struggles and hardships pregnant girls are going through. It talked more about the support it takes and it makes you think about every choice you make and every action you take. This book helped me see how precious and frail the human body is and to picture the affect that an unborn baby boy or girl can have on you.
I few things that I didn't like about this book were that, it seemed to take forever. I read about every night but I never seemed to finish. The book was also not very grate at looking on the bright side of things, it was a little depressing because very little were the characters in the book happy. The personalities of the characters weren't very inviting but, with the theme of the book being about pregnant girls, I can see why the characters weren't all that cheerful.

This book was good for many reasons, one of them being it didn't overlook pregnancy. It showed that not all girls are lucky enough to keep their baby. Anne didn't take crap from anyone and knew people's personalities before she met them. She already knew who she was when she went to the home and she didn't think that the father of her baby was the most important thing in the world. She didn't enjoy the sex and she didn't even know why she was having sex, she didn't love her boyfriend and he sure as hell only wanted the sex and he ended up with a baby he doesn't even know about. When I read about Anne's sister Penny I was like "she should have been where Anne was."I guess now Penny knows what happens when she fools around with guys. Anne shows it's not a good idea to get pregnant and that anyone could because she was really smart and made one bad decision that changed her life forever.

I just havta say, the new cover for the book doesn't look very appealing and I think the cover that was on the edition I read was much better but that's besides the point.
This book was WONDERFUL. There is no judgement and it is full of honest truths. Anne at first appears to be unlikeable but once deep into the book, you feel for her very much. The different situations that the other pregnant girls went through were also very well described and written. Considering this is Ruth Pennebaker's debut novel, I am much in awe of her writing talent and look forward to reading her other novels.
Even though you've probably read other synopsises of the story, my version is: An unwed pregnant teenager is pregnant in a time when she shouldn't be: the late 60s. Abortion is still illegal and her family is in no way accepting of her predicment. She is sent to a home where girls of the same age and in the same situation are sent. The book takes us through the pregnancy months and we watch Anne's situation change and her own self grow and change.
This book is NOT sterotypical and I urge you to read it!

Anne is seventeen and accidentally pregnant. Before this, her life had seemed to be going pretty well. Her mother was sometimes depressed and in and out of mental hospitals. Her sister Pamela was the classic dumb cheerleader type, very concerned about her looks and about getting boys to like her. Anne was very smart and involved in high school and her father lavished attention on her. She was his pride and joy, but her pregnancy disappoints him and turns off any emotions he had for her. Anne and her family don't want anyone to know she is pregnant, especially the boy she used to date and whom she thought loved her, the boy who got her pregnant.

So Anne is stuck here at a home for unwed mothers in the country. She and a bunch of other pregnant girls are living together with a housemother who takes care of them and gets them to the hospital when they go into labor. None of the girls has much contact with her family while at the home, and Anne is no exception. She receives occasional letters from her family, but they never acknowledge her pregnancy. Anne feels like she is moving father and farther away from them, and feeling closer and closer to these other girls who once seemed so strange and different from her. How will this pregnancy end up changing her life? Will Anne be able to give up the baby once she gives birth?

I liked that this book showed a pretty realistic view of pregnancy from the point of view of a girl who didn't want to be pregnant. Pregnancy wasn't romanticized or portrayed as something completely wonderful. The characters were interesting and I liked how each one helped Anne gain some insight into herself.

I didn't like the parents of any of the girls, who sent them to this place instead of supporting them and letting them stay at home. I was also horrified at the party the girls had where they were smoking and drinking. I couldn't stop worrying about the damage they could be doing to their babies.

This book was excellent. I laughed out loud several times. It took me right back to 1967, what it must have been like to be a young pregnant girl back then, when everyone was so intolerant. The characters were interesting. Anne was hilarious. The end was very touching and moving. The only thing that made me nervous was when they all got drunk, but then I realized no one back then knew that alcohol will hurt an unborn baby.

This book would be a really great movie.

I was probably about 9 when I first read this book and I immediately loved it. I have no idea what made me decide to read it, as I had no experience with adoption and it doesn't seem like the type of thing I was reading at the time. Perhaps it was because it was by Lowry and I'd already fallen in love with some of her other books (The Giver, Number the Stars).

I was absolutely fascinated by this book. I was constantly borrowing it from the library until my parents bought me my own copy when I was in 8th grade. Honestly, I was convinced that there would be a note in the front confiding that *I* had been adopted, but no.

At that young age I would have never imagined that several years later I would be in the position to make the difficult decision of placing my own child for adoption. Funny how things work out.

Unlike the story, I am so grateful that my son will always know of his adoption and of the love his birthfather and I have for him. We've thought of him every day for the past 6 years, and we'll be here with open arms if and when he wishes to meet us.

It's been 16 years now since I first read this book and it still has a special place on my shelf and in my heart.

i loved this book it was very good. The beging was kinda boring but it got better in the middle. It was great!I think this book reflects on people our own age because it tells about a girl named Natalie Arnstrong who looks for her real parents becasue she was addopted.!Also getting ready for college! She has 3 friends that they tell about the most in the book, And they are,Gretchen Zimmerman,Becy(who they never tell what hher last name is),And her boyfriend Paul.Natalie was addopted. And so was her litle sister.But over the summer before college Natalie wants to go on a trip. The trip is to find her REAL parents. Her addopted parents don't know why but she does. i think u hsould read more about this book to find out the rest! But over all this book was great.
k.h

Lois Lowry is a great author! She has taken a common plot and put colorful characters into the story which makes you want to keep reading all the way to the end. Natalie's journey is so compelling and you want to see her succeed in her efforts but not be disappointed. Everytime I read a book by Ms. Lowry she grabs ahold of my attention and keeps me thinking about the book all through the day.

What would you do if you found out that your mother wasn't your birth mother?
In Lois Lowry's, Find a Stranger, Say Goodbye, Natalie Armstrong decides to answer that question. Natalie has beauty, intelligence, a great boyfriend, and a wonderful family, but her search for her birth mother sends her into a welter of emotions.
The main character of this story is Natalie Armstrong, whose mother, father, and sister are Kay, Alden, and Nancy Armstrong. This story takes place in many places because of Natalie's search, but in Maine and New York in about 1969.
Find a Stranger, Say Goodbye's theme is "following your dreams" and "never giving up." Its genre is a mix between mystery and adventure, and written in third person omniscient.
I thought that this book was pretty good. It's a bit strange at places, which I'll not reveal because it might ruin the book. I'd recommend this book to people who like to read about family. It gives you a sort of comfort and understanding about families, and makes you ask natural questions, but not really anything that'll get you confused. Find a Stranger, Say Goodbye will go by mildly fast, but it'll still be enjoyable.

This book was everything i thuoght it would be and much more. I couldn't put it down. It was very moving. A MUST read.

Darnella Ford is one of my favorite authors! I first discovered her when I read Crave, her novel written after this one and it is a dynamite novel! However, after reading this and comparing it to her other works, I can see how much she's progressed since! The concept of this novel is good, a young mixed girl from the ghetto orphaned and then taken in by a rich white family which is no cookie-cutter family under the surface. However, instead of getting to the meat of the experience this young girl witnessed we find her at an adult going back to the scene of her horrors for the first time in many years. Therefore, readers get a lot of her thoughts about what's going to happen, blah blah blah. We learn what happened to her in like 3 pages when readers could have recieved so much more from the work had not a good portion of the book been so drawn out and dry.

I was very impressed with Darnella Ford, her book was so strong. Her book is what I call a "Survivor's Book".

I have read a lot of books of the genre but this one stuck with me by far. I couldn't believe how her words made me feel as if what was happening to her main character was happening to me.

I recommend this book to anyone who has overcome a tragedy of any kind, whether it be from a stranger or a family member. Even though this is a book of fiction, it is far too real in someone's reality.

Later...

Rising is the story of Symone, a nine year old biracial girl living in the projects with her drug addicted mother. When her mother dies Symone is adopted by the Hustons, a rich white couple and moved to a wealthy community. Now she lives in a huge house far from the Ghetto and that is where her nightmare begins. Symone finds out that all that glimmers is not gold. The Hustons are anything but glamorous. She finds herself a victim when her adopted father sodomizes her. She later learns that he has done the same to his" own" children. Symone, now adult has left the Hustons home but can't escape the abuse, she finds herself broken,bruised,shattered and used. Her boyfriend Teek doesn't have it easy either, when they make love he becomes the victim to her rage, his pain becomes her pleasure. He doesn't understand her hazardous sex routine. When the family gathers for Thanksgiving, Symone returns to the Huston house with Teek. The abuse is confronted, the sisters plan revenge and Symone learns a shocking family secret... Darnella paints a bittersweet novel that will keep you glued to the very last page..
We Gave Darnella Best New Author 2003 for Rising....

Symone has had one hell of a life. From birth until nine years of age she grew up destitute in the housing projects of Boston with a crack addicted, prostitute mother. Oddly enough Symone found happiness being a "rare and beautiful bird", a description used by her mother Deloros to describe her, amongst the ruins of her life. United at a young age with her friend Ina they made the best of a bad situation up to and including that tragic day when Symone's mother overdosed and died. Life changed then for Symone. She always knew that she wasn't black. Her light skin, the color of her hair told a story nobody needed to verbalize. She questioned her mother many times but the answers were never clear, there was always a question of who she was. Rising is the tale of climbing from the depths of uncertainty into the vast world of the unknown and how Symone finds her way.
Symone finds herself a ward of the state after the county burial of her mother. It is then that she is one of the lucky children in state custody for she is immediately transformed from a project wharf into a high society girl. She is adopted by the rich Hurston family- "a shameless family with a house at the top of the hill"- in the ritzy section of town, Eden in Michigan. Her English becomes better, she is transformed from illiterate to a functioning member of society. She dresses better, she gains her own room which is much bigger than the rat infested tenement that she grew up in, she is transformed into a productive person -on the outside. Inwardly though, the demons rage. What seemingly is a life that any of us would envy is pure torture. It is this torture that is vividly captured in Rising. I couldn't put the book down, for Symone's life was a winding and twisted strand. It would unravel and repair itself countless times a literary journey through the mind of a woman who was tortured mentally more than I could imagine. Spellbound throughout the book, it wasn't until the last few chapters that this gripping tale came together in a fiery ending. During a Thanksgiving trip, funny how I should pick this book up in November, secrets that will forever change the lives of everyone involved are revealed and dealt with once and for all. You won't be disappointed taking a few hours to read this book. I suggest that you push it to the top of your To Be Read list.

At eight years old, Symone has known nothing but poverty and chaos. She is a biracial child living in the projects with her drug addicted prostitute mother. While other children are outside playing with their friends, Symone is forced into being the "adult" in the household. Symone tells us her story of taking care of her mother, helping her through the night sweats, having no food or hot water. She shows us the unconditional love a child has for their parent.

When her mother dies of an overdose, Symone is shipped off to an orphanage. A rich white family adopts her and whisks her away to a huge house and better life. But, is this life really better? The Hudson house may look perfect on the outside, but there are many dark secrets on the inside.

Ridge and Madeline Hudson have two other daughters, Audrey and . We get to know each member of the Hudson< family along with their stories of emotional and sexual abuse through flashbacks during a mandatory family meeting called by Ridge Hudson.

The characters in 'Rising' are well developed and realistic. The intense story line will make your heart ache for the children. I read the self-published version of this book and was a little disappointed in the changes that were made. I prefer the original ending over this one because it seemed to be more realistic for this story. This is still an excellent read and real page turner.

Tina
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