Adoption

Adult

A Child's Journey Through Placement
Vera Fahlberg
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For some children, being in placement is only a brief stop on the way to being reunited with their parents or placed with an adoptive family. Others may wander in and out of foster care, mental health facilites, and juvenile justice programs throughout their childhood. These are the children-victims of broken attachements-who are at greatest risk for sociopathic behavior as adults. A CHILD'S JOURNEY THROUGH PLACEMENT provides the foundation, resources, and tools to help professionals and parents support these children on their way to adulthood.

 

Across the Seas: Guidelines for Adoptive Parents
Ira Chasnoff, M.D.
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This booklet is designed to guide you in your evaluation of your new child as you consider adoption. It has forms on developmental and attachment assessment for you to fill out as you observe & to use as a basis for consultation with an adoption expert. It has guidelines for taking pictures or videos if you are overseas adopting to provide the best insight into the child's medical, developmental, and attachment status.

 

Adopted Child: The Growing Years
Lois Melina
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A collection of articles from Adopted Child newsletter beginning in 1987 addressing issues adoptive parents face.

 

Adopting a Toddler
Denise Harris Hoppenhauer
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Adopting A Toddler is a comprehensive guide for those who have decided to adopt a toddler and want to know what to do next. The practical advice offered here was written with the unique needs of adopted toddlers in mind; combined with personal experience. This book includes such topics as naming your toddler, baby showers, waiting to complete your adoption, the toddler wardrobe, the nursery, child safety, childcare, mealtime, bath time, selecting a pediatrician, medical considerations for adopted children, international adoption, adoption travel, post adoption, resources and more.

 

Adoption and The Jewish Family: Contemporary Perspectives
Shelley Rosenberg
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Three percent of today's Jewish families are created by adoption. ADOPTION AND THE JEWISH FAMILY focuses on the primary issues that confront these families. Beginning with a chapter on Jewish laws concerning adoption, this book examines the latest medical, psychological, social, and religious wisdom on raising an adopted child in the Jewish community. It is an invaluable resource for those families affected by or considering adoption.

 

Adoption Eclipse, The: Choices Count
Ines Arnsberger Hatch
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Pediatricians, healthcare workers, childcare providers and the adoption triad will gain an understanding of the complexities of the adoption process. The situations and anguish are based on actual experiences of the author & winds through psychological challenges of the adoptive couple and birthmother.

 

Adoption is a Family Affair
Patricia Johnson
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Don't you wish that there was an easy way to explain the hows and whys of adoption to your parents and the other members of your family? Well wish no more. Have them read ADOPTION IS A FAMILY AFFAIR. They'll feel like they've sat down with a close friend to have a coffee-klatsch about adoption. This book's conversational tone and wealth of information will turn them into adoption experts (and supporters!) in no time.

 

Adoption Reader: Birth Mothers Adoptive Mothers and Adopted Daughters Tell Their Stories
Susan Waida-Ells
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Compelling, emotional, and sometimes controversial, these essays cover the gamut of adoption experiences: open adoption, international adoption, lesbian families, single parents, biracial identity, search and reunion, special needs children, open records, foster parenting and more. Enlightening sometimes provocative, often deeply touching, these essays together offer a multivocal narrative of the inter-related experiences of being a woman in any part of the adoption triad.

 

Being Adopted: The Lifelong Search for Self
David Brodzinsky
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BEING ADOPTED: THE LIFELONG SEARCH FOR SELF illustrates common developmental pathways of adoptees as they occur throughout the life span. It probes the complex issues that are involved in this ongoing life process. Five themes run throughout this book: the experience of adoptees; developmental perspectives; normality; search for self; and sense of loss.

 

Beneath a Tall Tree: a story about us
Jean A. S. Strauss
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Bestselling author Jean Strauss's memoir about her quest to unearth her past is an incredibly funny and touching journey that redefines the meaning of family and celebrates the universal connections that link us all. Nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.

 

Communicating Through Play: Techniques to Assessing and Preparing Children for Adoption
Judith Cipolla
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This book helps adoption workers develop a larger repertoire of techniques for assessing and preparing youngsters for adoption, become more skilled at observing and encouraging attachment behaviors, more effective in interpreting and communicating assessment findings to adoptive parents, and better able to help parents understand and use these findings in their day-to-day parenting.

 

Family of Adoption
Joyce Pavao
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In order to understand adoption, you need to consider the entire family system—birth parents, adoptive parents, adoptees, and other family members. By feeling empathy for all members of the adoption triad, everyone involved can grow, learn, and heal. THE FAMILY OF ADOPTION provides a broad framework for thinking about adoption. It is a most insightful and healing book.

 

Forever Parent
James & Darlene Kloeppel
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Forever Parents is about children and parents who have waited their turns in the lengthy adoption process, and despite outward appearances at times, desperately want it to work.

 

Helping Traumatized Children
Kenneth Watson
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Employing a clean, clear-thinking writing style, Reitz and Watson look at adoption issues as interactions of family systems (birth families and adoptive families) over generations. Each individual is seen as a member of a larger system, influenced by and influencing the others over time. This book is a clear distillation of strategies for understanding the larger picture. Intended to provide an overview to professionals, this is a great book for anyone who wants to understand the broader and deeper issues of adoption.

 

How to Make Adoption an Affordable Option

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This book is for people who would like to consider adoption but are reluctant because they believe the process is too expensive. It is also for families who, caught up in the emotions of adopting, may not have given serious thought to some of the less obvious financial aspects of adoption. You'll also learn about financial assistance and tax breaks available to adoptive parents.

 

Is Adoption for You? The Information You Need to Make the Right Choice
Christine Adamec
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The author is an adoptive parent who gives you the information you need to make this important decision. From financial considerations to the myriad emotional issues involved, there are numerous questions to explore. Her guidance is drawn from personal stories, clinical studies and academic research to find the answers that are right for you.

 

Journey of the Adopted Self
Betty Lifton
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This book explores the inner psychological world of adopted people and shows that their search for biological and historical roots can be a journey toward wholeness. JOURNEY OF THE ADOPTED SELF draws on a study of adult adoptees as well as the author's personal experiences to illuminate how adoptees form a sense of self. This book was the winner of the 1994 Pact Press Award in the category of special interest to adoptees.

 

Launching a Baby's Adoption: Practical Strategies for Parents and Professionals
Patricia Irwin Johnston
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This is a book about babies who will be adopted during their first year of life. It is directed specifically at adoptive parents, who will find here tools to make their new baby's transition into their family as smoothly as possible, so as to establish the basis for loving and compassionate relationships. The books is also directed at adoption practitioners and intermediaries, in the hope that they will learn some things not taught in university professional programs.

 

Loved by Choice
Susan Horner
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True stories that celebrate adoption. A clear, practical guide through the adoption process that also touches the heart with personal stories.

 

Primal Wound
Nancy Verrier
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THE PRIMAL WOUND is a book that is both forceful and courageous in the way it approaches the subject of adoption. Using information about pre- and perinatal psychology, attachment, bonding, and loss, it illuminates the effect that separation from their birthmother has on adopted children. This book provides validation of many adoptees' feelings, as well as bringing clarity and understanding to their experiences.

 

Saying Goodbye to a Baby: Volume I - The Birthparent's Guide to Loss and Grief in Adoption
Patricia Roles
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It is only recently that professionals in the field of adoption have begun to realize that a grief process occurs following relinquishment of an infant. This book addresses that & gives reasons why loss through adoption as not been acknowledged. It also talks about the reality of two sets of parents.

 

Shared Fate : A Theory and Method of Adoptive Relationships
David Kirk
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A ground breaking classic examination of the mystiques surrounding adoption. Originally written in 1964 and revised in 1986 this book still stands the test of time. Kirk helps us understand how adoptive families are different and then goes further to show how difference can be an asset.

 

Supporting An Adoption
Pat Holmes


(Not available for checkout, in-office use only)

Sometimes wanting to do or say the right thing isn't enough. Written for friends and relatives, this book explains how they can be sensitive and helpful to the prospective or current adoptive family. It includes a one-page summary on how to support an adoption, both pre- and post-placement. It is a good tool to help others understand the adoption process. SUPPORTING AN ADOPTION is a book for those who care.

 

Things I Want Most
Richard Miniter
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Since his removal from an abusive home, eleven-year-old Mike had been placed in a dozen different foster families and institutions. He was labeled severely emotionally disturbed and a hopeless case. THE THINGS I WANT MOST portrays the unpredictability, frustration, and heartbreak of everyday life with a bright but uncontrollable child scarred by abuse. It shows how the strength, imagination, and love of one family allowed Mike to turn challenges into changes.

 

Through Yupik Eyes: An Adopted Son Explores the Landscape of Family
Colin Chisholm
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Author Colin Chisholm's provocative exploration into the life of his mother, Doris, begins with her youth in a small Eskimo village, where she lived until her Yup'ik mother died and she was adopted by a Swedish family near Seattle. While growing up, she struggled with her mixed ethnicity, denying her origins until late in life, when poor health prevented her return to Alaska.

 

Troubled Transplants
Jana Wolff
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What a great book! SECRET THOUGHTS OF AN ADOPTIVE MOTHER reveals the hidden emotions that so many adoptive parents are afraid or embarrassed to share, believing they are alone in feeling this way—feelings of amusement and terror, surrealism and sarcasm, familiarity and alienation. This book discusses the author's fears, concerns, and questions about adoption. You won't be able to put it down until you've read it from cover to cover.

 

Twenty Life Transforming Choices Adoptees Need to Make
Sherrie Eldridge
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Written especially for adult adoptees working through complex feelings about being adopted and who are considering finding their birth parents, this book is also an invaluable resources for adoptive or birth parents who want to gain a better insight into their child. No matter how loving your adoptive home, growing up adopted presents unique challenges that the majority of adoptees don't talk about.

 

Waiting to Forget
Margaret Moorman
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Waiting to Forget is a mother's story of coming to terms with the child she gave up for adoption over thirty years ago. In 1965 Margaret Moorman was unmarried, pregnant, and still in high school. Forced by societal pressures to give her baby up, she suffered emotional trauma both before and for years after the birth. At forty, she gave birth to a daughter and found herself terrified by the possibility of losing her younger child, a fear she can now trace back to her uncertain decision to give up her son.

 

When Friends Ask About Adoption
Linda Bothun
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Friends and family often have questions about the adoption process, but they may be embarrassed or afraid to ask them. This book answers these unasked questions. It shows how friends and family can be supportive of the adoptive family. WHEN FRIENDS ASK ABOUT ADOPTION would make a good gift for anyone who interacts with members of an adoptive family (neighbors, doctors, clergy, coaches, etc.).

 

Children

A Is For Adopted
Eileen Cosby
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This Christian-themed alphabet book takes you from A IS FOR ADOPTED to Z is for Zest for life. Along the way, there are stops at F is for Family, H is for Heavenly Father, J is for Joy, L is for Love, P is for Precious and all the rest of the letters. Each one is accompanied by colorful, appropriate illustrations and a rhyming verse. This book makes a lovely gift for all children, whether adopted or not.

 

A Koala For Katie: An Adoption Story
Jonathan London
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Katie thinks about babies a lot. When she and her parents visit the zoo, she worries about the baby koala. What would happen if the mommy koala couldn't care for her? After getting a stuffed koala, Katie pretends that she has adopted the bear just like her parents adopted her. She loves her koala and takes good care of it. A KOALA FOR KATIE helps adopted children understand the many ways their parents love and care for them.

 

Abby
Jeannette Caines


(Not available for checkout, in-office use only)

Pre-school Abby enjoys her special place in the family as the adopted daughetr with an older brother. A delightfull story of an African American family's adoption written from a childs perspective.

 

Adoption Is For Always
Linda Girard
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When Celia learns that she is adopted, she is upset. Why did her birthmother give her up? Did she do something wrong? Her parents' explanation of adoption helps to reassure her. ADOPTION IS FOR ALWAYS is a comforting book for children to understand about a birthparents' decision to make an adoption plan.

 

Adoption is for Always
Linda Girard
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Celia is frustrated and upset when she realizes for the first time that she is adopted. As the story unfolds, she discovers why her birthmother gave her up but also that her adoptive parents will be her mommy and daddy forever.

 

Adoption Stories For Young Children
Randall Hicks
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Ryan, a five-year-old boy, knows a lot about adoption. He knows that his babysitter, Tammy, is pregnant, but isn't ready to be a mommy. He also knows that Tammy has chosen his neighbors to be the baby's mommy and daddy. He has lots of friends who are adopted. Even his friend's teacher is adopted! ADOPTION STORIES FOR YOUNG CHILDREN is a great way for younger children to learn about adoption.

 

Amy Angel Goes Home
Kathleen Lathrop
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The inspirational message of this deeply spiritual and moving story is that adoption is the purposeful union of lives and hearts. This book is the story of Baby Amy who is in the waiting-to-be-born heaven with the Great Guardian Angel. Here, Amy learns that God's messenger will deliver her to the parents whom God wants her to have. AMY ANGEL GOES HOME offers a unique perspective on adoption—that the formation of an adoptive family is part of a Divine plan.

 

Best Single Mom: How I Was Adopted
Mary Zisk
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Mary and her Mom love to tell the story of how they became a family. Before Mary was born, her mom lived alone in their house. She loved her work and her friends, but something was missing ... Mary! She wanted to share her life with a child who needed a family. So her mom traveled the world, across the ocean and over the mountains, to find Mary. She's THE BEST SINGLE MOM IN THE WORLD.

 

Borya and the Burps
Joan McNamara
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An Eastern European Adoption Story that offers a child's view of life before adoption and the transition to a forever family in a way that allows parents to talk openly and comfortably with their pre-school and early elementary aged children about the gains and losses that have been a part of this unique life change.

 

Carolyn's Story: A Book About an Adopted Girl (Meeting the Challenge)
Perry Schwartz
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Possibly suited for grades 2-6. Carolyn, nine, narrates this attractive photo-essay about her life in Minneapolis as an adoptee from Honduras. Her brother is also from Honduras; when she was two, she went there with her parents to pick him up. Carolyn experiences the tension between wanting to be like everyone else and taking pride in being special. But mostly she thinks about ordinary kid things: sports, school, friends, pets. The clear, full-color photos show her engaged in common activities and with her family.

 

Day We Met You
Phoebe Koehler
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This beautifully illustrated book, using just a few simple words, describes the events on the day that parents meet their adoptive baby for the first time. Younger children will have no trouble understanding the easy text in this book. The words emphasize the love behind each simple action. This book, for the very youngest child, is the perfect introduction to the feelings behind adoption. THE DAY WE MET YOU is meant to be read out loud while you cuddle your child.

 

How I Was Adopted
Joanna Cole
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Sam has a joyful story to tell, a story completely her own, yet common to millions of families. It is a story of how babies are born and how children grow; a story of what makes people different and what makes them the same. But most of all, HOW I WAS ADOPTED is a book about love. This is a uniquely reassuring book about adoption that captures all the joy of loving families.

 

How I was Adopted
Joanna Cole
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Explains what adoption is to young children and also the feelings that adoptive parents may have as they wait to become parents.

 

I Don't Have Your Eyes
Carrie A. Kitze
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This beautifully illustrated and uplifting book, for the 2-5 set, will help to create the intimate parent/caregiver and child bond that is so important. While others may notice the physical differences between us on the outside, inside we are the same.

 

Joshua Finds a Friend
Phoebe Dawson
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A Christian-based book that helps children relate to the adoption of older children.

 

Little Miss Spider (Sunny Patch Library)
David Kirk
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On the very first day of her life, Little Miss Spider discovers her mom is nowhere to be found. She sets out in search of her, and after many adventures, learns about family. Told through the author's clever verse and brilliant oil paintings, this heartwarming story is sure to please all her many fans.

 

Look Whos Adopted
Michael Taheri
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Now that you've explained to your children where they came from, it's time to discuss where they may be going. LOOK WHO'S ADOPTED talks about some of the many famous people who were adopted, from President Ford to Greg Louganis. More importantly, it shows the many possible work experiences and community activities available for your child. This delightful book invites your child to look forward to the future.

 

Matthew was Adopted
Phoebe Dawson
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A Christian-based book which celebrates adoption and gives support for transracial adoption.

 

Mommy, Did I Grow In Your Tummy? Where Some Babies Come From
Elaine Gordon
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This book is written for children so that they might better understand and respect the increasingly different ways that families can grow and come to be. It explains, in simple language, various options such as in-vitro fertilization, using egg or sperm donors, surrogacy, and adoption. MOMMY, DID I GROW IN YOUR TUMMY? shows children the positive results of these options—a new baby in the family.

 

Mr. Rogers-Lets Talk About It: Adoption
Fred Rogers
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To be in a family is to belong, but children who are adopted may have some confusing feelings about what that means. In LET'S TALK ABOUT IT: ADOPTION, Mr. Rogers confronts, with sensitivity and insight, the questions children have about being adopted. He describes the many ways that children feel close to their families—celebrating special occasions, doing everyday activities, and spending quiet moments together. In his characteristically reassuring tone, Mr. Rogers shares an important message—the secure feeling of belonging in a family comes from being loved.

 

Mulberry Bird, The
Anne Braff Brodzinsky
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The Mulberry Bird is an enchanting story about a mother bird that decides to place her baby bird for adoption. It explains why a birthmother (or birthbird) might consider an adoption plan for her child. The use of birds instead of people helps to present the subject matter in a non-threatening manner. My then four-year old adopted friend, Rachel, chose this book over all others as her read-aloud book. This book needs to be shared with a child.

 

Oliver
Lois Wickstrom
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Today is not a good day for OLIVER, an alligator-like animal. Because of this, he is angry with his parents. While being punished in his room, he daydreams about his birthparents. He wonders what life would be like if he were still living with them. Of course he imagines that it would be much more exciting than his real life and family. This excellent book was a winner of the 1999 annual Read, America! collection.

 

One Wonderful You
Francie Portnoy
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For an adopted child, forming a healthy identity requires incorporating two family legacies into his or her self-definition. ONE WONDERFUL YOU shows how the child is a blend of two families: the physical traits and many of the personality traits that come from the birth family plus the nurturing contributions from the adoptive family, in order to form a complete person. This is a positive, feel-good book for adopted children.

 

Over the Moon: An Adoption Tale
Karen Katz
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Once upon a time a teeny-tiny baby was born. At the same time, a man and a woman had a dream. They saw the baby in a basket surrounded by beautiful flowers and they knew it was the child they had been longing for. Bright and exuberant illustrations tell the story of how one family came together with the lively appeal of Guatemalan folk art.

 

Pablo's Tree
Pat Mora
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Five-year-old Pablo can hardly wait to see how Abuelito, his grandfather, has decorated Pablo's tree for his birthday. When Mama first told her father that she was going to adopt a baby and name it after him if it were a boy, Lito went out and bought the tree for his grandson. He moved the tree from place to place and watered it, but he waited to plant it until the day that Mama finally brought Pablo home. And every year since then, Lito has decorated the tree for Pablo's birthday. For his first, Lito hung colored streamers on the tree. For his second, Lito tied balloons. For his third, it was paper lanterns, and last year, it was birdcages. What will it be this year?

 

Sam's Sister
Juliet C. Bond
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Kindergarten-Grade 2-Rosa's mother explains to her that she is pregnant with a child for whom she can't provide. Instead, she knows of a couple who will "help us take care of the baby." When the infant is born, Rosa and her mom get to pick Sam's middle name-Querido, which means "wanted" in Spanish. After the adoptive parents take the newborn home from the hospital, they stay in touch with his birth family, who eventually visit the baby. Rosa misses him, but she knows that, "Sam is where he should be. And even though he doesn't live with Mommy and me, we will always be part of his family." The text is straightforward and sensitively written. The focus remains on Sam's mother and sister, a valuable point of view.

 

Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born
Jamie Curtis
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Some family stories are so special that they need to be told and heard over and over again. In asking her parents to TELL ME AGAIN ABOUT THE NIGHT I WAS BORN, a young girl shows that this is a cherished tale that she knows by heart. She loves to hear about every happening—the wonderful phone call announcing her birth, her parents' plane flight and hospital visit, her first bottle and diaper change, and her first night at her new home. This is a unique, exuberant story about adoption and about the importance of a loving family.

 

This Is How We Became a Family: An Adoption Story
Wayne Willis
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This is the story of a couple that longs for a child, of a pregnant young woman who is not ready to be a mother, and of the events that bring them together for a happy ending. Told in simple terms, THIS IS HOW WE BECAME A FAMILY invites children to ask questions about their own adoption. It gives parents the opportunity to answer these questions, whether their child's adoption was domestic or international, open or closed, or arranged privately or through an agency.

 

Twice Upon-a-Time
Eleanora Patterson
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Not every family is formed in the same way, but all children, even adopted ones, grew inside their birthmother before they were born. This picture book starts with a description of conception, pregnancy and birth. It then explains how a child enters a family by adoption. TWICE UPON A TIME: BORN AND ADOPTED helps adopted children to feel good about themselves and their families.

 

Two Birthdays For Beth
Gay Cronin
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What child wouldn't want two birthdays? Beth surely does! She can't wait for her extra birthday—her adoption day. When Beth's mom explains adoption once again, Beth finally understands. TWO BIRTHDAYS FOR BETH has been carefully written to be appropriate for both two parent and single mother families.

 

Two Kinds of Love
Susan Gore
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A very short, simply put story of adoption. The story begins with the explanation of having two mothers (birthmother and adoptive mother). Very positive story to get your child's adoption story off to a great start.

 

We See the Moon
Carrie A. Kitze
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This book opens the dialog of adoption at an early age by allowing the questions in your child's heart about their birthparents to be asked and discussed.

 

We Wanted You
Liz Rosenberg
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A husband and wife want to become a father and mother, so the decide to adopt a child. They wait a long time hoping, wathcing, preparing. At long last, the day arrives and so does enrique. With humor and love, "We Wanted You'" tells the story of how tow become three. Best of all, it tells the child what he most wants to know: "We wanted you so much back then, and we still do."

 

Why Was I Adopted?: The facts of adoption love and illustrations
Carole Livingston
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Colorfully illustrated book explaining adoption to children. Includes a question and answer format with commonly asked questions.

 

Zacharys New Home
Geraldine Blomquist
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Zachary, a little kitten, is confused and concerned. He doesn't understand why he has to move from his first family to a foster family and then to an adoptive family. He is angry at the changes in his life. He thinks that no one loves him. ZACHARY'S NEW HOME provides the opportunity to open up communication within the family.

 

Grief & Loss

Healing the Hurt, Restoring the Hope
Suzy Yehl-Marta
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Text provides guidance on how to help children and teens through divorce, death, and crisis. Author draws on her own personal experience and discusses grieving children, how to become a compassionate companion, stepping stones to healing, and activities and rituals for the healing process.

 

Open Adoption

How to Open an Adoption: A guide for parents and birthparents of minors
Patricia Dorner
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A guidebook and reference book, taking you through the process step by step, examining along the way the emotional issues for all involved. You will be given the tools to make opening an adoption the best experience it can be.

 

Never Never Never Will She Stop Loving You
Jolene Durrant
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The adoption love story of Angel Annie - revised edition. Written by an adoptive parent, this true story lovingly connects birth mom and child while stressing the importance of the adoptive parents.

 

Policy and Practice

Families by Law: An Adoption Reader
Naomi R. Cahn
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The new frontiers of adoption are explored: from transracial and intercountry adoption, adoption by same sex couples, and the adoption of children with special needs, to the movements for opening records and maintaining post-adoption contact between adoptive and birth families. The relationship between adoption and assisted reproductive technologies is discussed, as are feminist, economic, and philosophical perspectives on adoption and procreation. The volume includes statutes and cases, advocacy organization statements, and pieces from legal scholars, social scientists, philosophers, psychologists, and sociologists in order to provide a wealth of information about the contemporary dimensions of adoption.

 

Special Needs

Accessing Federal Adoption Subsidy After Legalization
Tim O'Hanlon
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This guide is designed to help adoptive families apply for adoption assistance after the legalization of their childs adoption and to receive retroactive adoption assistance payments. It provides a description of the entire application process including how to establish eligibility. If you have adopted a special needs child, you need ACCESSING FEDERAL ADOPTION SUBSIDIES AFTER LEGALIZATION.

 

Adopting the Older Child
Claudia Jewett
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If you have already adopted an older child or are considering doing so, this book is indispensable. ADOPTING THE OLDER CHILD describes a child's transition from the honeymoon period through the testing phase and on to the full integration into a family. It gives practical, caring advice on how to handle each situation. This book, by the expert in the field (having both personal and professional credentials) is highly recommended.

 

Foster Care Odyssey: A Black Girls Story
Richard Delaney
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This book presents practical—if unconventional—treatment strategies for addressing the puzzling and exhausting problems sometimes seen in foster and adopted children. These unique approaches can breathe life into children, soften their defenses, sidestep endless power struggles, and alter their distorted views. TROUBLED TRANSPLANTS provides strategies and insights for the adoptive family dealing with children who are exhibiting behavioral difficulties.

 

Older Child Adoption
Grace Robinson
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Adopting a child over the age of two can present unique challenges and opportunities. This book presents both the author's personal experiences after having adopted three children (ages nine to twelve) and the results of her research of over thirty families who adopted older children. OLDER CHILD ADOPTION provides access to the hearts and homes of adoptive families who are raising children who, through no fault of their own, cannot remain with their first family.

 

Our Own
Trish Meskew
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Children adopted as preschoolers or older come with histories, fully formed personalities, and feelings about what they have lost. But they also bring happiness, laughter, and great resilience. In this book, dozens of adoptive families tell about the joys and challenges of adopting an older child. Their stories are backed up by thorough research, interviews with professionals, and opinions from adult adoptees. Filled with compassion, humor, and common sense, OUR OWN is the essential handbook for anyone adopting an older child.

 

Special-Needs Adoption: A Study of Intact Families
J. Rosenthal
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This volume reports the results of a large-scale survey of families who adopted children with special needs. It assesses perceptions of social work services, parent-child relationships, family functioning, child behavior, school performance, and other aspects of adoptive family life. This report compares outcomes for different types of adoptions.

 

The Healing Power of the Family
Richard Delany
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THE HEALING POWER OF THE FAMILY offers a non-technical, user-friendly approach to the understanding and treatment of disturbed foster and adopted children. It describes the most common behavioral and emotional problems observed in children who have been formerly mistreated, explaining their powerful negative impact on parents. It then provides specific examples of family-based interventions to cope with these behaviors.

 

Toddler Adoption: The Weaver's Craft
Mary Hopkins-Best
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Increasingly, adoptive children are entering their forever families past the age of infancy but not yet as older children. TODDLER ADOPTION covers all aspects of adopting and parenting these young children: making an informed decision whether or not to adopt; preparation and education; forming attachments; behavior management; and more.

 

Teens

Am I Weird or Is This Normal? Advice and Info to Get Teens in the Know
Marlin S. Potash
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This is a self-help manual for female teens written by a mother and daughter giving a crash course in Teen Trauma 101, covering every topic from puberty and sex to making friends and choosing colleges. Both Potashes emphasize the positive message that being weird is normal, because "everyone feels that they are different," but the book is at its best when the two disagree, resulting in humorous interchanges that often lighten their serious subject matter. Keep in mind that this no-embarrassing-stone-unturned treatment of teen issues and sexuality is probably best kept among best girlfriends--parents may blush over the detailed section on oral sex.

 

Dakota Dream
James Bennett
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This is the story of 15-year-old Floyd Rayfield's attempt to find a family and a home. A dream leads the young man, who's spent most of his life in foster homes and institutions, to escape from a mental hospital to a Sioux reservation where he hopes to live by the peaceful ways of the Dakota.

 

Face In The Mirror
Marion Crook
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Being a teenager in today's complex world is a difficult enough task, but adopted teens have an additional struggle: to discover their identity and a sense of belonging and place in the world. THE FACE IN THE MIRROR, based on numerous interviews with adopted teens, adoptive parents, and birth parents, brings attention to the growing and often controversial phenomenon of teenagers wanting to know where they came from. The book, written for both teenagers and adults, is a frank discussion of the issues surrounding adoption.

 

Finding My Voice
Marie G. Lee
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An account of the struggles and successes of a respected radio personality. A host of an National Public Radio Show, this book offers an intimate look into her childhood, marriage, career, and battle with a rare neurological disorder that has affected her speech and thus nearly destroyed her career.

 

Great Gilly Hopkins
Katherine Paterson
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Tells the story of an 11-year old foster child who tries to cope with her longings and fears as she schemes against everyone who tries to be friendly.

 

Parents Wanted
George Harrar
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A fictional story of a boy with Attention Deficit Disorder whose father was in jail, and his mother surrendered her parental rights to him when he was 10 years-old because he was "too hard to handle." After being placed with adoptive parents he has a chance to escape his past, but he still manages to get in trouble. Despite his antics, it's easy to see that he is a good kid dealing with his own tangle of emotions.

 

Real Boys' Voices
William S. Pollack
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Pollack describes the secret struggles and passions of America's adolescent boys in their own words. Drawing on interviews with young men across the country, Harvard clinical psychologist Pollack presents a candid, troubling and occasionally humorous snapshot of contemporary American boyhood in this follow-up and companion to his bestselling Real Boys. Contextualizing young men's comments on their loneliness, depression, fear, anger and frustration, as well as their hopes and joys, within his broader research, Pollack illustrates what he views as the straitjacket of the "Boy Code."

 

Sarah Plain and Tall
Patricia MacLachlan
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In a near-perfect miniature novel, two children experience the apprehensions and joys of the possibility of a new mother, when their father invites a mail-order bride to their prairie home.

 

Transracial Adoption and Foster Care; Practice Issues for Professionals
Jill Krementz
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This book is widely recommended, and with good reason—it's one of the best. In it, nineteen youngsters describe HOW IT FEELS TO BE ADOPTED. These young people explain, from an adolescent point of view, both the good and the bad sides about being adopted. Give this personal and moving book as a gift to your child, but don't forget to take the time to read it yourself.

 

Where Are My Birth Parents: A Guide for Teenage Adoptees
Karen Gravelle
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A sensitive guid to help adopted people make informed decisions about if and how to search for their birth parents. Includes why serach; telling your parents; the first contact; birth morhters; reunion and post reunion , and more.

 

Where Do I Go from Here?
Esther Drill
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This fun & informative resource takes a look at the human side of college life by offering inside advice and inspiration to girls on the threshold of one of lifes most important crossroads. It discusses the many different types of post–high school experiences—from college to volunteering to taking a year off—to help teens figure out where they might be happiest. Featuring personal reviews from young women trying out a broad range of post–high school lifestyles and filled with summaries of campus life from community colleges to the Ivy Leagues, Where Do I Go From Here? will give girls a clear sense of what life is really like after high school.

 

Who Am I? And Other Questions of Adopted Kids
Charlene Giannetti
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It's not always easy being adopted, especially during the preteen and teen years. This is often the time when you begin to have lots of questions about yourself and your adoption. You're not alone. In WHO AM I?, you'll hear straight talk from other adopted kids and young adults who understand how confusing it all can be. This book is there to reassure and inform you as you explore what really makes you the person that you are.

 

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