Adoption Books

This book is great for including the many different ways families come together. Adoption, step-parents, single parents and other types of families are included. This book is very inclusive and leaves room for all situations.

It is full of facts for helping to explain how babies are made to our children.

My children are adopted, and they feel so completely disjointed when sex ed comes up in school. This book covers not only sexual intercourse but also in-vitro fertilization, which is so often overlooked. This book also covers ADOPTION, thank goodness. It is written from the perspective of, how do families come into being? It addresses each way this can happen. It is neither condescending nor promoting nontraditional means - it just acknowledges that there ARE nontraditional means. I was so very happy to come across this book.

When an adoption that has been closed becomes fully open, or disclosed, most of the participants find themselves in a situation for which they have no precedents in their lives before. This was certainly the case for our adoptive family and our daughters' birthfamilies. So many emotions and so little understanding of what we might expect to feel, the way the relationships would evolve, how all of the children, adopted and birth siblings, would find their way and what each of our responsibilities was in this new extended family. This was family that had always been there of course, but was now coming out from behind a veil that never should have been there in the first place.

So, to come to the point, thank goodness for this book and its author, Patricia Martinez Dorner! This is an invaluable resource for families opening adoptions, for families that have already done so and need counsel and reassurance, and for adoptive families in closed adoptions, whose children are saying they need something more. I return to this book often, primarily because adoption is complex and emotional and the more I understand about what all of us are experiencing, the more grounded I am as an adoptive parent. The writer's wisdom and understanding are reflected on every page.

Buy this book and read it, not once but several times. No matter what your particular adoption situation is, you will learn and grow.

As a birthmother and wife of an adoptee, I see the adoption issue from two different standpoints and this book is one of the few that grants all three positions in the adoption triangle equal importance while still maintaing that the adoptees interest must superseed the desires of anyone else.

The different areas of opening a closed adoption, ranging from how to tell the adoptee, to what to say on that first meeting, to, what do we tell other people work not only for an adoptee who is a minor, I think the advice and suggestions, would work equally well for an adult adoptee who is either searching or has been found. I highly recommend this book to anyone involved in the adoption triangle.

My heart breaks for Michele, although I hope Kevin finally grew up. What a horrible thing to think you did the best you could for your child and find out that the people you trusted killed her! I really hope Michele does have more children some day. She's beaten herself up enough over this.

this book was easy to read and comprehend and most of all it encompasses the courageous yrt pitiful story of a very strong woman.michele launders shouls be saluted for writing her agony in and making people aware of it in such are remarkable manner. i was simply glued to the book until i finished it.all i have left to say is that michele! u'r story has made me strong because now i know i'm not the only one in pain.

In this story Heather who has come to live at Englewood is trying to find her birth mother. Her father died only a year ago and Heather is very close to her mother. Heather didn't tell anybody not even Amy or Rosie that she's adopted untill she gets a letter from her birth mother.After meeting her birth mother Donna, Heather feels like she is hurting her adoptive mother. A good ending and good prespective of a young girl.

In the second book in this series, Heather gets a letter from her birth mother, Donna, and doesn't tell anyone about it in fear that her adoptive mother will be hurt by it. However, Mrs. Cohen has already talked to Donna about the letter and now it's up to Heather to decide if she wants to meet her birth mother. This one is a bit more serious than the first and third books, but still great all the way. It made me wonder if the author had had a simliar experience for it was written in so much detail.

John Bayer makes the unbelievable sound...well, believable! The science is on the verge of existence, and could be taken from current news reports. The underlying plot is reminiscent of The Boys From Brazil, but more realistically executed. I don't think this story "could happen," I believe it one day will happen!

Bayer did it again! This is the sequel to Necessary Risk and is another page turner. Bayer has the uncanny ability to capture the reader's attention at the very start of the book and hold it by introducing new action, suspense and characters throughout the entire book. A must read for anyone who reads Cussler, Grisham or Clancey.

Choker (who tells the story), Fido, Spark, Misty and Maps all live at a Catholic orphanage for boys in the dusty outback of Australia in the late 1930's. They are known as the "December boys" because they all have their birthday in that month. Living inland none have ever seen the sea. Then one December they are sent on a holiday to Captain's Folly, a small seaside settlement that has seen better days. They stay with Mr. And Mrs. McAnsh, an eccentric couple who enjoy the odd bottle of wine. While exploring the beach the boys quickly make friends with some of the permanent inhabitants, especially Teresa and her husband Fearless Foley. Fearless was once a stunt rider in a traveling carnival. As the holiday unfolds adventure after adventure takes place for the boys, but can this paradise last?

This book describes the great exuberance of childhood, showing how, with a little good-will and imagination, life can be filled with joy, even if your circumstances are difficult. Of course with ill-will and narrow-vision life can be spoiled. Poverty is a related theme explored to a lesser extent. The value of friendship is greatly emphasised.

could be called a 'historical novel' as it describes a lifestyle that existed almost one-hundred ago. A one paragraph "Author's Note" provides the only special information needed to enjoy the story.

A film version of the book was released in 2008, however I should point out that the story is altered a little, I think to the detriment of the original themes. It seems it is still necessary to have a 'Hollywood endings'.

I like to read the same book in two or more different languages. Very helful.

I read this book well before the movie and I loved it. It is a touching story with lots of emotion. It is a quick easy read and it is beautiful.

I find this book terrific. I just couldn't put it down. I even woke up in the dawn just to continue reading it. I like the way the author describe each person in the book, I like the easy-to-understand language he used. Just read it, you'll love it. I recommend it to everyone.

This book speaks to the thoughts and concerns of an adopted child and acknowledges the loss and feelings of being different that many adopted children experience at different points in their lives. These feelings are addressed in a way that helps childen to see that each family is different in some way and respects the variety and diversity of all families. While addressing those differences, it also reinforces the bond and love between Lucy and her adoptive parents.

This book gives practical advice about how to handle the family tree assignment that is common in many classrooms and can be challenging for adoptive families. This assignment is handled in a way that provides the child with a sense of self-esteem by recognizing and incorporating Lucy's cultural background and the importance of birthparents as a part of the identity of an adopted child.

Parents reading this book will be reminded of the importance of respecting a child's privacy, especially a young teen. Lucy's parents exhibit a parenting style that encourages self-esteem and empowers Lucy to solve her problem in a way that is right for her. They respond with respect, concern, and interest in their child's feelings and needs, but do not pretend to know all the answers or make excuses.

Lucy's family tree is very well written and provides life lessons for children and parents. As adoption professionals, we recommend this book for adoptive families, but more importantly, for all families who wnat to learn about dealing with feeling different and helping older children solve their problems.

Lucy's Family Tree is an excellent book for mid to older primary age children (8 - 11 year olds) who feel "different" for any reason. It is unique to find a picture book that speaks at an emotional level to older children. Lucy is adopted and through a homework assignment she learns about the wonderful breadth of what "family" can be. Specific activities are included at the end of the book that provide concrete ideas to support children who are adopted as well as children who feel their family is somehow different from everyone elses. This book addresses topics such as culture, ethnicity, and all sorts of nontraditional families. I believe this book is not only a tender story but is an educational experience as well. It would be useful for child therapists, children in adoptive and nontraditional families, and as a book read aloud in the classroom (because of the student discussions that will naturally emerge). Lucy's Family tree has a lot to teach us, and it reminds us how all children desire to simply be loved and belong. Halvorsen Schreck's story does just this.

This book is a true-life accounting of an institution that has become historical. Most of us have had no experience with an orphanage. We grow up in single family homes surrounded by a family who likely loves and cares for us. The thought of being in an orphanage may evoke vague fears. On the contrary, this book shows that life in an orphanage is much like life in a more traditional family: there are good and not-so-good "parents" and "siblings" that you care for or don't, as the case may be. Wardell provides an honest, unemotional account filled with overtones of courage and optimism. Far from being scarred by the experience, her journey through the system leaves her empowered and fully prepared for a rich and balanced life. I found this book very powerful and inspirational. My views about orphanages have changed - familial love can be found in different settings.

The book initially follows the journey of Naomi Fraser into the Appalachian mountains to serve as a missionary and children's home founder. Initially, I thought this book was going to be an unrealistic portrayal of a "saint." Instead, I found a sensitive portrayal of flawed but generally well meaning adults and children bound together in an orphanage. I read the book in a day and highly recommend it. The author, a family therapist, reveals her self-awareness as well as her understanding of the frame of reference of others.

I got this in the mail last week. It was so neat to get books in the mail! This was the first thing I ordered off ... Anyhow, I liked this book a lot. I definitely recommend it to anyone who likes stories that deal with family and the events that can so often change the life of an average family.

I really liked this book because it deals with problems by really solving them. An excellent book for anyone looking for a great read.