Adoption Books

Eleven year old Lesley is still recovering from a serious illness (Hepititis) and so she isn't able to travel to Egypt when her mother takes a temporary job there. So Lesley goes to live with her elderly Auntie Amy in London for the summer. Auntie Amy is very kind to Lesley, but never having had any children of her own, is not quite sure what to do with Lesley, and so she leaves Lesley alone a lot while she works in her sewing room. Lesley is still recovering from her illness so she mostly watches the neighbors from her bedroom window or her aunt's back yard. Until she notices a little boy's face peeping out of the neighbor's attic window, and her curiosity pushes her into investigating what the children next door are hiding in the attic. At first Lesley doesn't like the three older Harwood children who live next door to her aunt, but she comes to see them in a different light when she is drawn into their efforts to help a young boy who has entered the country illegally.

I buy a lot of books for my own child, and all my nieces and nephews, but I read all the stories first to make sure they are not only age appropriate, but interesting and written in a way that is easy to follow. I highly recommend this book for both children and young adults.

THE STRANGERS THAT CAME TO TOWN WAS A GREAT BOOK. iT WAS ABOUT A YOUNG 11 YEAR OLD GIRL WHO HAS TO STAY WITH HER AUNT IN LONDON WHILE HER MOTHER IS AWAY WORKING IN EGYPT. LESLEY IS LONELY AND TRIES TO MAKE FRIENDS WITH THE TEENAGERS NEXT DOOR. THEY HAVE NO INTREST IN HER. THEN SHE INSISTS THAT SHE SEES A YOUNG BOY IN THEIR ATTIC. THEY SAY SHE IS IMAGINING AND ITS PROBABLY HER SICKNESS. SHE WAS RIGHT THERE WAS SOMEONE HIDING THERE. AN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT IS HIDING THERE. WHEN THEY ARE IN GREAT RISK OF THERE BROTHER TELLING ON THEM LESLEY STARTS HELPING. VICTORIA IS MEAN ROBERT IS NICE AND CHRISTOPHER JUST DIDNT THINK THAT THEY SHOULD KEEP ERRI THE IMMIGRANT. SOONER LESLEY FINDS VICTORIA A NICE GIRL AND FINDS OUT SHE LIKES ROBERT. LATER VICTORIA MAKES LESLEY HER HONORARY SISTER, AND ROBERT KISSED HER, CLAMING IT WAS ONLY A BROTHERLY KISS WHEN VICTORIA PROTESTED. SHE SAID LESLEY WAS TOO YOUNG FOR HIM TO PRACTICE ON. HE SAID HE DIDNT NEED PRACTICE AND ASKED LESLIE. SHE BLUSHED AND HE LAUGHED. THAT IS THE KIND OF STORY THIS IS. I HOPE YOU READ IT AND LIKE IT. ITS A GREAT STORY.

The book Stranger at the Window is a book about a young boy who has to hide places in houses because he is a illegal immigrant. I think the book is exciting because you never know what is going to happen next. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes an interesting and exciting book.

I welcome any book that is supportive of transracial adoptions and helps all members of the families involved to live in harmony. I agree with the author that love is not enough. Unlike in my family's same-race adoption, in a transracial adoption the parents need to acknowledge the existence of prejudice, explain to the child why his/her racial or cultural group is mistreated, provide the child with a repertoire of responses to racial discrimination and provide the child with role models and positive contact within the community. We have transracial adoptions in our neighborhood and I hope that the adoptive parents (all Caucasians) receive plenty of help from their agencies with those issues. They would be well advised to read this book.
Gisela Gasper Fitzgerald, author of ADOPTION: An Open, Semi-Open or Closed Practice?

This book is an interesting read but it should be retitled "Transracial Adoption and Foster Care: Don't Ever Do It. Practice Issues for Professionals "

It does not offer much support or guidance in placing children in homes of different races. It focuses on the statistics and the how-tos of getting children placed in same-race families, then begrudgingly offers some guidelines for the lowly professional who is forced into transracial placements. The stats were insightful and often surprising, which makes it a good reference for facts and resources.

Example of a disturbing scenario: -James, biracial, age 2. -With the "T" family since 2 months old, who want to adopt James. -Social worker doesn't think race issues are sufficiently addressed in home.

"James is able to...attach to significant others as demonstrated by his attachment to Mr. & Mrs. T. James would experience typical separation anxiety if removed from Mr. & Mrs. T's home. Since James' ability to attach is within normal ranges, he should be able to bond with different or adoptive parents, if properly prepared for adoption."

-Nine months later, Mr. and Mrs. T were re-evaluated for James' adoption. They were then able to answer the social worker's race questions sufficiently and were then allowed to adopt James.

Scenarios illustrating situations that come up in multi-race families weren't always given problem-solving solutions, sometimes leaving the reader with more questions. On an emotional level, the book often left this reader steamed and offended, but after a cool-down period, I would have to recommend it to those interested in this subject. Transracial placement is after all, not a subject without opposition. It is informative to know what the professionals are being told. Overall, the book exudes opposition to transracial adoption and foster care. It does, however, contain compelling, experience-based information from the author's career.

This book goes beyond the discussion of "should we or shouldn't
we have transracial adoptions". Although it is directed toward
professionals it is also very useful for adoptive parents as
well. The book avoids the emotional turmoil and discussion of
"what's right or wrong about transracial adoptions". Nor does
the book attempt to make parents feel guilty or inadequate to
adopt transracially. The reader is given information that compels
them to:
1) appreciate the challenges of transracial adoptions,
2) appreciate the needs of children adopted transracially, and;
3) gives them the skills and resources an adoptive or foster
parent needs to acquire.

The book does an excellent job of assisting adoptive parents to
judge their own skills and ability to adopt a child of a diffe-
rent race, rather than being judged by a professional or someone
else. Self assessment guides are even provided to adoptive pa-
rents for this purpose.

The case studies in the book provide examples to professionals
and parents that are clear and practical in highlighting the
issues and skills in preparing for and parenting children in
transracial adoptions. It is a practical "how to" book, without
the emotional turmoil and rhetoric that surrounds the topic of
transracial adoptions. I would recommend it to both professionals
and adoptive parents, as well as parents considering transracial
adoption or foster care.

This book is a part of a wonderful series by Cynthia Rylant! I was struggling to find good read aloud chapter books to read to my girls (3 and 5) after picture books but before long books like Charlotte's Web. These are perfect for that in between time! The vocabulary is wonderful and the pictures are engaging. We read one short chapter each day. My girls woke up each morning asking to read from the books.

This book is so cool! I love it. I like that there's a baby beluga in the book, and the cat and the dog and the mice. Because they keep the baby beluga company and they help him get home.

Pandora the cat; Seabold the dog; and Whistler, Lila, and Tiny, the orphaned mice, make-up the wonderful, Lighthouse Family. Together they live amongst each other in an old Lighthouse on the water, where they help to direct ships. However, one day Whistler and Lila hear the cries of a whale, a baby beluga whale named Sebastian, to be exact. Soon they have found that poor Sebastian has lost his Mother, and doesn't know where to find her. It's now up to Whistler and Lila, with the help of the rest of the Lighthouse Family, and a cranky old cormorant named Huck, to find Sebastian's Mother, and bring mama and baby together once again.

In this wonderful, adorable new series by Cynthia Rylant, we are introduced to various wonderful new animal characters, who are sure to rival those found in classics such as THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS. Each character is unique, and possesses his or her own quirks, yet they all share one thing in common, their love for each other, and caring nature. Filled with wonderful sketches by Preston McDaniels amongst almost every page, as well as a delightful plot that will please all young readers, THE WHALE is sure to be a hit.

Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper

This book will be very helpful in planning a course on child development with interested parents. Though I have a background in work with chilren, my knowledge base is mostly theoretical and I needed something that would help me address the everyday issues that parents of young children face and I am hoping that many of them will be willing to get the book as a reference for themselves.

This book is good if you want a book that doesn't tell you how to parent, but rather helps you understand your baby/child. With the information in this book, you can make your own educated decisions on how to parent. It's very straightforward and it's easy to use it as a reference if you have a specific question.

If you're tired of books that tell you how you should be parenting but are interested rather in your child's development, this could be for you. It makes you think and is not a manual.

For example, in the sleep section, it doesn't tell you what to do, but rather the implications of different methods of helping your kid sleep and why your kid might be having trouble or falling into certain patterns (like maybe it's just part of development). This book really respects the parent-child relationship.

The collaboration of Linda C. Mayes (Arnold Gesell Associate Professor of Child Psychiatry, Pediatrics, and Psychology at the Yale Child Study Center) and Donald J. Cohen (Irving B. Harris Professor of Child Psychiatry, Pediatrics, and Psychology at the Yale Child Study Center), The Yale Child Study Center Guide To Understanding Your Child: Healthy Development From Birth To Adolescence is a superbly practical and "reader friendly" guide for parents which compiles the findings and discoveries of the Yale Child Study Center (an organization first founded in 1911) in order to assisting men and women in finding their own parenting style, achieve balance between family and work duties, and acquire ways to strengthen the ties the bind their family relationships and deal with difficult issues arising from new siblings, to school bullies, to divorce and death. The Yale Child Study Center Guide To Understanding Your Child is confidently recommended as being a wide-ranging, eminently readable reference packed with solid information for parents and caretakers of children everywhere.

The Adoption Eclipse tells a story of the ups and downs of the adoption process. It gives a glimpse into the emotional and technical factors that go into successfully starting a family in this way. The characters and situations are believable, and the message is positive but realistic.

A very readable book that also contains good references for those who want to start their own adoption process. I read it the first time in under an hour.

For an effective insight into how adoption affects your life, read this book.

This is a wonderful book. It has everything. It is both entertaining and informative. Being an adopted person myself, I never knew what my parents (both sets) actually went through. This book made me laugh and cry and provided the useful information we need to help us decide if we want to adopt or not. I highly reccomend this book to everyone!

This is a sensational account of reunions.....I read the whole thing non stop! I also know because my story is in it.....adoptees and their families go through so much... this book shares those thoughts and feelings~ Thank you Shirley for doing such a sensational job writing it. You also might want to try ADOPTION WITH LOVE by Shirley Pusey as well!

Arizona social worker Shirley Budd Pusey was an adoption counselor for 32 years--placing over 700 babies.

Many of the reunion stories she relates come from cases she worked, where the families knew her.

The author did a good job of showing all the viewpoints: adopted adult, adoptive parent(s), birth mother, and if available, even the birth father.

They are all reunion stories--but each has a different feeling. For example, in Michelle's story, she met her birth mother, but then backed off saying, "She is not the person I fantasized about."

The adoptive parents had different reactions as well. Some of these parents felt they lost a little of their child after she/he met their birth parent. Others thought their child felt closer than ever to them after the reunion and expressed happiness at being their child, at how they were treated and loved, etc. etc. etc.

In most stories, both the birth mother and the adoptee felt a hole in their being was filled. Some adoptees only wanted medical and family history, not a new relationship. The birth parents now knew their decision had been right for that child, that the child is doing fine.

The birth mothers had mixed reactions from being thrilled to see that the child they placed more than 18 years ago was well, happy and loved. However, some were angry that they had missed all those years, forced by their family to make the adoption plan against her will. She felt cheated.

Many of the adoptees carried feelings about wanting to search for their birth mother, but were concerned this search would upset their adoptive parents. This search cannot be made until age 18.

Birth siblings sometimes were thrilled initially but then disappointed because the "new sibling" backed away--and they wondered if it was the right thing to get to know that person. Other stories tell of welcoming and joyous extended families that brought the adoptee into it, and others where the birth parent became part of the adoptive family's life.

Armchair Interviews says: If you are any part of the adoption triad for U.S. adoptions, this book would give you some insight into how each party might feel. But as this book shows, there is no "one way" the people involved felt after the reunion.

A good reference book with a dispassionate style. If you want to learn more about adoption, this book is concise, scholarly, and timely.

Professor Wegar uses a sharp analytical scalpel to dissect the "peculiar institution" of sealed records adoption in the United States, which is one of the last nation in the industrialized world that prohibits a group of its citizens from accessing their own documents of identity. Ms. Wegar also demonstrates how proponents and opponents of sealed records use the rhetoric of pathology and therapy to sway public opinion. A fresh perspective, and a recommended read for anyone sincerely interested in ending the failed social experiment of sealed records adoption.

"And Hannah Wept" is an incredibly sensitive, and very compelling book describing the Jewish response to infertility. With infertility at record levels, this is a book that resonates for many.

this was an excellent overview of the jewish view of infertility. i have had trouble finding information regarding the jewish perspective and this book filled the ovid.

When I was a teenager in the 80s, my Mom and I would get veritably giddy with anticipation as PBS began promoting the next in its series of Anne of Green Gables broadcasts. After the first series, we were so hooked, it's a wonder we didn't become Canadian.

I had not thought about my utter love of this series for a long time, until, recently, I wondered if my 2-year-old daughter might enjoy hearing stories from the book and seeing the series. Was I ever right! Sure, you'd think she's a little young, but even at not quite 3, she is just as hooked as my Mom and I were! We began by reading an abridged book of Anne stories, then we watched the film series, and then I purchased this book.

Now, every day at nap time, she BEGS for another installment, asking, "Is Anne going back to school? Will she see Miss Stacey? Will she hit Gilbert on the head with a chalk board?" (This is NO exaggeration!). I've found this storybook not only to be lovely and evocative of the sweet moments in the PBS series but it is also beautifully written. The word choices are nothing short of crafted -- true to the Kevin Sullivan production of the story, and, I am sure, true to the original written version as well.

This is a WONDERFUL storybook for fans of the literary and film renditions of this beautiful story. Even a toddler is hooked! We heartily endorse it! :)!

This book is a must for all Lucy Maud Montgomery fans...or anyone who enjoys a good read. Anne Shirley is full of life and imagination, making every page more exciting and enjoyable than the last. Anne's adventures through school and finding a family keep the reader interested with every page turn. It is a wonderful story and should be read by all.

Toby Dillon is back. Those of you who enjoyed "The Baby Game" will not want to miss this one. In some indefinable way I thought "Baby Crimes" was better than the first book. It has a unique plot with several twists at the end. And Toby has a bit of romance in his life this time around. Ever want a place to go and get away from it all? Try a boat plopped down in the middle of an avocado grove - Toby's place. Great character development and superb descriptions of the sleepy town of Fallbrook. Highly recommended.
Wolf Wootan, author of "Crown's law"

Lawyers don't have to like their clients. It's a good thing, because Toby Dillon isn't delighted with Catherine and Nevin Handley. Nevin made buckets of money as a dot.comer and has recently been elected to one of those quiet but very powerful political offices in local government. They have been ignoring the extortion letters but the letters are getting nastier, and seem to be focusing more on Nevin. The bone of contention? Their adoption of Lynn, their sixteen-year-old tennis wunderkind. Back when they had no money, they pulled a fast one on a small hospital, with the help of an unwed mother, so the paperwork looks right but really isn't. So can Toby make it all better before the extortionist goes public and/or Lynn finds out?

Reluctantly, Toby takes the case. Nevin is killed. Toby tracks down the man who is the person most likely to be the birth father; he is not anyone's dream father, although he has his own code and he abides by it. But is he the father? The birth mother is also eventually found, and doesn't want to make any more problems for her daughter. There are complications; aren't there always?

Toby's personal life is a little shaky, too. He is very carefully building a relationship with Rita, but this case puts her and her children in harm's way. Rita's been there, done that, and doesn't ever want to do it again; can what she and Toby have survive this?

BABY CRIMES is a marvelous second novel. Hicks builds characters we can care about, in situations that could really happen, then takes us on a wonderfully plotted ride.