Adoption Books

The writing style in this book is a wee bit too simplistic for my liking. Yeah, I realize it's a children's book but kids do appreciate descriptive, emotional writing just as much as us older folks. It's what hooks you. Despite that these true stories of once unwanted dogs who have beaten the odds and found loving homes are inspiring. A big black dog (the hardest to adopt out) becomes an agility champion, a terrier mix whose loving owner passes away is nearly euthanized until a shelter volunteer utters a magic word that spares his life, a large rowdy, unaltered (and unadoptable) dog is taken in by a disabled woman who trains him into an award winning service dog.

Anyone who cares about animals should read this book, and if you want to get across to others what animals really go through then read this. I'm not sure how many people could deal with what abandoned animals deal with

This book was purchased to be presented to the participants of the youth division (ages9-12) of competitors at our dog trials. The sponsor for the trials was a local dog rescue organization, so the book lent itself to the occasion.

Before giving them away, I had an opportunity to sit down and read it. The stories were interesting, well-written and were fine examples of how far we can go with a little love,compassion and care for others, be they people or dogs. As one of the young ladies I have talked to that received a copy of the book said, " Those stories were so great, that I now walk my dog without my mother having to tell me. And I even ask my pesty brother if he wants to go with us."

Highly recommend this book. Maybe if you are thinking about getting a dog, you'll think twice and give a "forever home" to a deserving animal at a rescue or shelter.

I didn't realize when I bought this that it is not really an adult-geared book. The stories are very short and written in very elementary terms, apparently targeted at children. Left me wanting more information about the animals.

If only I had a zillion dollars, I'd adopt every animal in a shelter. These animals definitely received a second chance and they proved they were totally worth it. This was a cheering book, even though one knows there are many more animals waiting to be given that second chance. Read the book and be amazed.

Abby is going to baby sit for Lou McNally. But there is bad news to. The Addisons are moving.

Abby is babysitting for Lou McNally. She is known for the worst kid but now she is perfect!

This book is about Abby and Lou McNally,a kid who is a little too perfect. Abby gets mad at Lou and then the trouble starts.....

In this book Abby starts babysitting for Lou McNally (formally known as the worst kid ever). Abby expects to have to sit a big time troublemaker, but instead Lou acts like little miss perfect. Lou seems to be very careful not to make any trouble, and gets very upset whenever something involving her goes wrong or gets messed up. Abby discovers Lou's secret in Abby and the Best Kid Ever.

I think it was a very boring book.It was boring because it was mainly about Black History Month and a regular charge.I know it`s like Mary-Anne and Miss Priss but that book had action. Follow my words!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is one of the books that you can say "Don't judge it by its cover". When you see it at first you could say "This is only for couples" but you will get wrong. It's excellent for couple adoptive parent like for single adoptive parent. It's very detailed, it even mention topics that not many adoption book covers. I highly recommend this to anyone that is looking for adoption either you are single or not.

Wow, this book is packed with information! It is an excellent starting point for anyone considering adopting.

This book provides a solid overview of the adoption process. However, it was written a decade ago, and much of the information is now out-of-date. For people considering international adoption, I'd recommend Dawn Davenport's book, The Complete Book of International Adoption. The two books are similar in content, but Davenport's is current. The Gilman book is still worthwhile, but it wouldn't be my first choice.

This book will forever be intimately associated with the happiest and most important part of my life.

For all those touched by adoption. Dispels the myths.
I also recommend:
For Late Discovery Adoptees: "Adoption Forum" by Kasey Hamner
For anyone touched or interested in a true-life story: "Whose Child?" by Kasey Hamner
"Primal Wound" by Nancy Verrier

This book was great! Outdated for sure, but the guts of this book hit home no matter when you are adopting. It makes you ask the hard questions. It makes you decide if you can really go through with an adoption. Hope they will make an updated version sometime soon!

This book is an introduction to some of the major issues involved in foreign adoptions. It is written for perspective adoptive parents, their family members and friends. Register takes up each of the major issues in turn, and she has based the book both on her own experience as a mother of two girls adopted from Korea, and on anecdotal interviews with adopted children of various ages and their other family members. She starts the book with the motivations for foreign adoption, from the plight of the abandoned or relinquished children, to the parents whose reasons for adoption may range from altruism to pure selfishness. She goes on to describe how the children may be matched with parents, and then the pivotal event in the families' lives, the moment when the child joins the family. Next comes a discussion of how new family ties are constructed, then methods that various parents have used to inform the child about the adoption experience. As the child grows older, major identity questions come to the fore, and children may choose to seek out their biological parents and homeland. The book closes with a chapter on the global family, in which Register stresses that foreign adoptions should only be seen as temporary measures, while the real goal should be to ensure that every child is able to grow up in his or her homeland with a loving family, enough to eat, and meaningful educational opportunities. At the end of the book is a list of recommended readings for further information, as well as a list of child welfare, advocacy, and adoption organizations.

Register takes up some of the negatives of adoption as well as the positives. She describes how foreign adopted children have many more opportunities for education than they would have in their homelands, and they are certainly much more likely to be well nourished, both physically and mentally, following adoption. But she also points out the burden placed on them by being taken from their home countries, where they look just like everyone else, to becoming minorities once they are here. Their parents, family members, and friends, may soon see them as just another kid, but strangers will give them odd looks, and bullies will taunt them.

The one point where I disagree with Register is in her downplaying of the genetic component in personality. At one point, she takes up the issue, and cites the example of two outgoing parents who were mystified at how their adopted daughter could be so quiet, since she grew up in their home and family. But she dismisses this by saying that environment does indeed play a large role in personality development. Environment undeniably plays a large role in a child's development, especially in the early years, where a poor environment can result in lifelong difficulties. On the other hand, as a child gets older and hormones start kicking in, the genetically programmed aspects of a person's personality begin to play out more and more. Perhaps Register wasn't aware of this, given the 1990 publication date of this volume, as much of the research on genetically controlled aspects of personality has been relatively recent. In any case, differences between parental expectations, siblings' behavior, and an adolescent adopted child's behavior can lead to major problems for the child and the family, and this is one issue that really should have received more attention in a book of this kind. Parental expectations are also sources of major anxiety when the question of higher education arises. Most of the parents of foreign adopted children are middle and upper-middle class, but the children come from a wide range of backgrounds, mostly working class or poor. Middle class parents are generally college-educated, and there is some expectation, stated or not, that their children will attend and do well in college. Certainly, this is what parental dreams are based on- -even Register herself says that she has such dreams for her own children. But each child has a unique set of gifts and talents, and for many foreign adopted children, their strengths are in fields other than academics. They may put in a valiant effort at academics, and certainly, many succeed quite well in competitive colleges. But others feel defeated by their parents' unreasonable expectations. This, combined with feelings of confusion, abandonment by their birth mothers, and rejection by a society that is only now beginning to recognize its inherent racism, can lead to enormous psychological burdens. This isn't to say that foreign children shouldn't be adopted, but that parents need to be aware from the outset that their children's future will be a complete unknown, and the adopted child's young adulthood may start much differently than their own.

At the start of our international adoption process I ordered any, and every, book I could find on the subject. When I received "Are Those Kids Yours?: American Families With Children Adopted From Other Countries", I could not put it down.

Thus far, this book has been the most valuable resource to me. It gave me a better understanding of the international adoption process, as well as some of the struggles we are about to face; both with adopting abroad and becoming a multi-racial family. Ms. Register provides real-life examples of different road-blocks that she, and other families have come against, as well as how those situations were handled.

The interviews with several families built through adoption, as well as Ms. Register's personal experience, shed a candid light on how to deal with intruding questions and awkward stares from strangers. She also reminds us that sadly, bigotry still exists in today's society and provides us with ways of dealing with the matter in our minds, with our children and to the public.

Ms. Register also addresses the different emotions felt by adoptive parents as well as adopted children through the entire process. The book provides an honest portrayal of some of the emotions involved in international adoption, which leaves the reader knowing that they are not alone in the way they feel.

This is a book I will not be selling any time soon. I know that as we go further through the process and raise our family, I will use this book as a reference over and over again. I highly recommend this book to anyone adopting abroad or raising a multi-racial family.

This book is not intended as a practical guide on how to adopt internationally but addresses the paradoxical nature of adoption and the ethical questions inherent in international adoption. It will make the general reader and adoptive parent of children from another race more sensitive about honoring the child's original culture.
My first reaction to the title "Are Those Kids Yours?" was: "Yes, some people are really rude to ask such a question of parents whose children look decidedly different from them." The author asks "How many other parents are regularly approached by strangers demanding to know, `Are those kids yours?' She thinks that this question reflects the paradoxical nature of adoption itself and while she answers the question with an "unqualified yes" she lives with the paradox that "they are mine, yet not mine." The title of her book suggests that international adoption complicates the issue of entitlement because the child "race remains unchanged. A Korean-born girl named Bridget O'Leary is still Asian to the world-at-large, and that facet of her identity needs to be affirmed and nurtured." Children's ethnic group, race and nation of origin all are involved in the competing claims of entitlement, not simply between birthparents and adoptive parents. Gisela Gasper Fitzgerald, author of ADOPTION: An Open, Semi-Open or Closed Practice?

Most of what Cheri Register has to say was very informative and helpful. I bought this book wanting to either reaffirm our decision to adopt internationally or for it to bring new realities to light and scare us away from it. I am happy to report that we are still planning on going through with international adoption.
I especially liked Register's thoughts on how to help your internationally adopted child deal with their differences and how to handle nosy intrusive outsiders who question you in public- very insightful there. She also goes into great detail about attachment and bonding issues in toddlers. I have experience with attachment disorder children, so I can say that what she writes is 100% accurate.
I do think she overemphasized on Korea a bit much. That is where she adopted her children from. We are interested in Korea, but for someone who isn't, this might get redundant. I would have liked to see her have equal emphasis on countries.
I will agree with another reviewer, that her last chapter is preachy. I don't agree that it is our responsibility to continue to support our child's birth country. Is it really necessary to continue to send funds to that country? My first emphasis will be on my adopted child and household, and maybe ocassionally supporting that country, but not on a long term constant basis.
So, I do recommend reading this book, but watch out for the last chapter and don't expect to get a lot of information on each country available to adopt from!

This book is about two boys, Harlan and Manny. Harlan is having terrifying premonitions that leave him questioning them. Manny is having nightmares that he thinks are concerning his past. Little do the boys know that their problems have to do with their past and present lives. It turns out they know less about their past than they thought.

I thought this book was an excellent book! It was compelling, adventerous, and psychological - all in one book. I was not able to put it down. I also hope that their is an equally thrilling sequel. Everybody thought I was crazy walking around while trying to read that book because it was such a page turner.

Reviewed by a student reviewer for Flamingnet Book Reviews
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Preteen, teen, and young adult book reviews and recommendations

I just finished Grand and Humble.

I've enjoyed Hartinger's other books, and this one still had everything that I liked about his other 3. All of the characters are well thought out and very distinct. Even the minor characters that we don't spend much time with still have very strong personality and presence.

The characters help move the plot along effortlessly, and the closer you get to the ending, the faster you want to read so you can figure out exactly what is going on. You'll never guess how it ends!

Hartinger does a really good job of taking regular every day teen issues and putting a unique spin on them.

I've never read anything like this book (and that's a good thing). To say any more would be a bad thing. Just read it.

Grand and Humble was awesome! It was a one of a kind book, and I have never read anything like it. I was always wanting to read more and find out what would happen next. Grand and Humble is about two boys, Manny and Harlan, that each live totally different life styles. Manny is a geek, with not a lot of money, and lives in a small house. Harlan on the other hand, is son of the senator, has more money than he knows what to do with, lives in a huge house, he is on the swim team, and on top of that he is the school president.
Now you're probably wondering how two totally different guys such as Harlan and Manny have anything to do with each other. Well, it is their senior year of high school and everything seems to be going great for both of them, until they start getting visions of them-selves getting hurt and even their deaths. After a few months the visions started getting out of control, and they don't know how much more they can take. What will happen when they find out the meaning of these visions?

Two boys, who on the outside couldn't be more different. Harlan Chesterton is good looking, popular, the rich son of a prominent Senator. He's an ace on the school swim team, he's dating the beautiful Amber, his best friend, Ricky, has street cred. If it weren't for the debilitating panic attacks, along with the flashes of tragic premonition that Harlan experiences, his life would be perfect. After all, that's what his mother is aiming for--running the lives of her husband and son until every detail is absolutely perfect.

Manny Tucker, on the other hand, is a geek. A theater geek, to be exact. Never one to attract attention, Manny prefers working behind the scenes with the lighting, bringing the stars of the stage into perfect, shining glory. He's not popular, he's often picked on by the other kids in school, and his good friend, Elsa, is deaf. He likes working on the computer, coming up with movies to film with Elsa, and living a simple life with his single-father dad. Except lately he's been having vivid nightmares that seem to portend a tragic ending.

How is it that two boys, so far removed on both a social and financial level, should share the same feelings of dread and uncertainty that Harlan and Manny do? And how is the intersection of Grand and Humble, a scene which both see in their unwanted "visions" of either the past or future, involved?

GRAND & HUMBLE is an engaging mystery that delves into the paranormal. The result is a thriller with twists and turns and a surprise ending that will leave even the best of detectives guessing until the final page. Not to be missed by all lovers of a good, thought-provoking "what if" story, GRAND & HUMBLE is sure to please!

The book gives detailed treatment of the aggressive, violent, controlling, irrational internationally adopted child. Follow the treatment exactly and your family will benefit greatly. When Dr. Federici says short term sacrifice for long term gain...he means it. He is a wonderful person that truly cares for the children.

I note many 5-star reviews of Federici's book are written by "A Customer."

One reviewer said Federici's methods were nothing like "holding therapy." They are, in fact, an exceptionally dangerous form of holding therapy:

For defiance, Federici recommends putting a child into a prone hold (two adults putting weight on the chest and legs; head down into a pillow; parents are advised not to look at the child's face).

Federici writes about the holding's aftermath: "It is to be hoped that, as the child calms down, he or she will be very insecure, crying, and in need of emotional support and nurturing. Keeping a child in a more infantile state after a hold will serve as a starting point for moving toward appropriate attachment to the parent. Many children who act out have often missed the stage of immaturity in which they are completely deferential to the parents." (page 112)

The author also advises a highly controlling form of parenting.

Note that this is a self-published book.

Dr. Federici's book saved our family. We were drowning in chaos and confusion, and with 3 very troubled adopted children. His book is an extension of his practice model (proper evaluation and intensive parent training). All the other professionals we saw did not have a clue how to handle our children, so we went on our own and got the right help we needed. Nothing crazy like "holding therapy" which we tried and discontinued. This book give structure and hope when all else is or has failed.

We have consulted the author after all other professional interventions have failed. Dr. Federici is the ONLY ONE who actually gets it! He is also the father of 7 Internationally kids, and does a great job helping parents get through the hard time WITHOUT any type of crazy "Holding therapy" that one reviewer mentioned ( absolutely NOT true--we did safety holds for aggression approved by hospitals, and the rest was extra good parenting!). Dr. Federici gives a very organized approach that makes sense and actually works and never, and I mean never, hurts a child. So we highly recommen this book for parents who are at their wits end, and nothing else has worked. It will take dedication and committmenmt.

We have twin sons that we adopted from Bulgaria at 2 years old in '04. One has more behavioral issues than the other, and the other has more developmental delays. I had lost sympathy for my little defiant, destructive, tantrum-throwing, whining, fellow until I read this book. It helped me to understand that his issues aren't just behavioral, but neurological, in nature. It has also given us the guidance we needed to ask educated questions of his psychiatrist to get a more accurate diagnosis and plan for the future. I will recommend it to all of his teachers and behavioral specialists that will deal with him on a regular basis. Most importantly, my heart has softened once again for that little undernourished, deprived orphan that we brought home not too long ago. There's a sweet, scared boy under those bristles.

A must have book for any forestry student that is taking a wood science or wood tech class. Without this book as a supplement to the regular textbook for the class, I don't know if I would have passed! The opening chapters are an easy to understand read and the pictures/descriptions of the different types of wood are excellent.

My whole life I've been asking myself the same questions. What is my bed made out of? What are those things in the forest? What fuels fire?

This book answers ALL of those questions and more! The answer....WOOD! THOSE THINGS ARE MADE OF WOOD! Life finally makes sense thanks to this book. It will take you to a new level of enlightenment.

This noteworthy book addresses its narrow topic with accuracy and effectiveness. Wood's growth, structure, and properties are treated in full. The book explains, in great detail, the techniques for taking wood samples and preparing them for examination. Precise keys for identifying most woods used in furniture and construction are provided. The vivid photography, as well as diagrams and tables, are perfectly integrated.

This book is nicely formatted and illustrated. The information has been very helpful, but lacking in coverage of many trees. Contacted author for information and never received reply or acknowledgement. The quality of the books construction is very poor. After only a few weeks of normal use, pages began to seperate from the binding.

This book is great for helping you find out what your desk is made of, or whether or not termites are a threat to your house! Find out with this handy pocket guide to figuring out if what you're looking at is authentic wood!

I was hoping for a revelation about the state home for orphans. I was surprised that no more was there. I knew Glen Ewing well, for he was my teacher in HS. I was very disappointed to read the language that I seldom if ever heard when I was a child and I am 8 years or so younger than Rex. I, too, grew up in this area of Ok. Also the slams given to the Church of the Nazarene were horrible. I have been in the Nazarene church since the day I was born and the Round Grove church since 1949 and have NEVER seen holy rollers, nor people talking in tongues(Pentacostals) that really belonged to that faith. NOR are they people that do not believe in Drs.!! We have many born again Christians who are also Doctors.

I read this book with my book club and was pleasantly surprised by both the high quality of the author's prose and the amazing detail of his memory. Researchers say that strong emotion fixes details of situations in one's head and that was clearly the case for Rex Wilson. His recollections tell the reader not only about his own abandonment, adoption and childhood, but paint a fascinating portrait of life in rural Oklahoma in the Depression years.

I think the editing could have been a little tighter and I would have liked to have seen more photos, but the memoir was great. I'll never look at adoption the same way again.

Not being adopted or knowing anyone who was adopted in my rural community in Oklahoma where I was raised, I did not read OUT EAST OF ALINE for the adoption story but for the portrayal of "life as it was" in northwestern Oklahoma during the 1930's. I was not disappointed! My personal memories (and stories told to me by my parents) and those of the author paralleled each other, yet in a delightfully told, very descriptive manner that made my memories come alive once again. Further, the description of his trip West with his parents, camping along the roadsides, was hilarious! This story demands a sequel as to what happened during his high school and college years that further developed his visions for his future.

Rex Wilson always knew he had two identities that never quite merged into one. He remembered his birth name, his father's death in 1930 when he was four, and his mother leaving him and his siblings in the Oklahoma State Home for White Children soon thereafter. This was not a particularly cruel or neglectful institution by the standards of that time and place, but it had all the usual institutional faults and it left scars. The next year he was adopted by the Wilsons, who wrested a living from the sandy soil east of Aline, Oklahoma, and had no children of their own. They were well-meaning and expressed love as well as they knew how, but the boy to whom they gave a new name was never quite secure.

Despite this he was a lively and intelligent boy who learned much from the family farm and Round Grove School, which had a single teacher and up to forty pupils from first through eighth grades. One of his teachers recognized his unusual qualities, double-promoted him and taught him the value of co-operation in basketball and with an ingenious scheme to get out-of-date mail order catalogues for use in the school's outdoor privies. Daily life in the days before rural electrification is described in great and accurate detail. He also lovingly describes shopping visits to nearby towns and a trip to Arizona that awakens what will become his lifelong interest in archaeology. He catches the exact speech patterns of that time and place with the deadpan humor charcteristic of the region, never once abandoning the viewpoint of the boy he once was. At the end of the book he has graduated eighth grade and is ready to face a wider world.

Out East Of Aline: An Adoption Memoir is more than a biography. Author and retired archaeologist Rex L. Wilson writes from a child's point of view, remembering his own abandonment at an orphanage at the tender age of four and a half years. He was adopted by an Oklahoma farming couple a year later. Thus began his journey into the strange ways of his new home, the heartbreak of learning that his biological mother would never claim him, the unease of living in a community where adopted children were mistrusted as reform school candidates (at best), and finally, gradual acceptance into his new way of life. Out East Of Aline is not only about adoption issues; ultimately a tale of perseverance, hope, and the joys of living. Recommended.

I am a mother of a 4 year old boy adopted through the foster care system at two years. We have read many books about adoption together. Very few books relate to his story and he's never "loved" any of them. This story is beautifully writen and poetic. The visual of the red thread was so powerful that we talk about "our threads" now. While this book is about a girl adopted from China, it is a fairytale with Kings and Queens and captures attention from the begining of the story. It also touches the one thing that most books miss; the parents and child are meant to be together regardless of how. The look on my son's face when I explained how I felt before and after we found each other, was priceless. By the way, this is the first book I've ever felt the need to review.

I am excited about this book! There are so few great children's books about adoption, and I love that this one makes such a beautiful picture.

My two Chinese born daughters love this book. They are 3 and 5 years old, and find the fairy tale nature of the story easy to understand and also that it relates in real life to their own personal stories. I have also sent this to a friend with an adopted Native American daughter, and the cross cultural theme also works for them. A wonderful book.

My 3 1/2 year old daughter was adopted from South Korea, not China, and this story is just as relevant for us. We look for our invisible, unbreakable red thread and talk about the connection we have. This is a good bedtime, snuggle story - not too long and not too short - with good vocabulary words to learn (famine, drought, peddler, spectacles, etc.) I change a few of the words towards the end: "Who does this baby belong with?" (instead of "to") and the people in the strange land "speak" (not "chatter"). These are minor issues in this overall wonderful book.

I truly enjoy Grace Lin's work and I am surprised that she would publish a book with such disturbing images. I adopted my daughter from China when she was one. I read this book to her when she was 4 years old. She was very upset by the image of a red thread causing her father and me terrible pain while we waited to be united with her. She was especially upset by the passages in which the King and Queen try to imagine what is at the other end of the thread. Much of what they imagine is scary. Because the thread is connected to the baby waiting to be adopted my daughter felt as though she had caused pain to her father and me while we waited for her. For weeks after we read the book, I had to reassure her that she did not cause us pain and that the story was just pretend. I understand that the author is trying to convey that it is hard and sometimes painful to wait to be united with your child, but for some kids the images in this book can be taken in the wrong way. I myself was upset by the book. I believe that it is important to share with your child the fact that there is both joy and pain inherent in adoption, but not with these images.

This is a great little storybook for a child adopted in China. Very sensitive portral of abandonment and adoption issues for a young child. My grandaughter loved it. Hard to read without getting a lump in your throat though.

Loved it - it was a great book, cute pictures & story.

It's nice for younger kids and has a good true story.

My daughter really did not get this one. We have other books related to China adoption that capture her attention more and focus on family.
This book just does not connect for her her or us as a family.

Shaoey and Dot is written by Mary Beth & Steven Curtis Chapman. The book was inspired by the true story of their adopton of a girl from China. Shaoey (pronounced SHOW-ee) is a little Chinese baby discovered by Dot, a little Chinese ladybug. Together the two embark on the journey of adoption. Told through rhyming verse, the book describes the orphanage and the first experiences of these two in their different environments. Dot acts as protector and comforter for this bundle she's found. It ends with both Shaoey and Dot going on an airplane with their new family to their new home.

Steven Curtis Chapman has won four Grammy Awards, forty-seven Dove Awards and one American Music Award. He and his wife, Mary Beth, have six children, including three girls adopted from China.

The book is illustrated by Jim Chapman, Mary Beth's brother. (Her maiden name was Chapman.) He and his wife have also adopted from China. His illustrations consist of line drawings and soft watercolor. They are endearing and detailed.

What I Like: There are a ton of children's books about adoption, but very few with a Christian perspective. This is one of them. I love the tenderness of this story. My sister was adopted from Korea, so adoption is close to my heart. Furthermore, all believers are adopted by God, so it is something I feel Christians should understand and embrace. This book is a wonderful way to introduce the concept to children. I like that it is truthful without giving too many details. The circumstances leading up to adoption are not always pleasant. This book does a wonderful job keeping everything positive. Also, the book reads easily. My daughter has me read it over and over.

What I Dislike: The illustrations are too sketchy and pastel for my taste. The illustrator is obviously very talented, but the quality seems inconsistent to me. Some parts are extremely detailed and interesting, while other parts of the same illustration seem rushed or incomplete. Also, the ending of the book seemed abrupt. The authors spent a lot of time telling us about Shaoey and her home in China, but no time telling us about her new family or her new home in America. I would love to see the book expanded (or a sequel) to describe her adjustments to her new life.

Overall Rating: Good.

Tanya -- Christian Children's Book Review