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Beyond Good Intentions by Cheri Register $18.95 Cheri, the white mother of two adult daugthers adopted from Korea, has written ten essays about pitfalls that well-meaning parents like herself can easily slip into. Each essay begins with an exaggerated version of an adoptive parent's perspective, and then explores the difficulties that perspective can create in the relationship between parent and child. The author's advice is based on her own experience of raising her daughters, her daughters' reflections on their childhoods, and the experiences of many other adult international adoptees. Pact says: These essays offer a thoughtful, candid look at the intersection between parental feelings and expectations and the adopted child's emotional needs. |
Black Baby White Hands: A View from the Crib by Jaiya John $17.00 Transracial adoption remains a potent and charged idea in American social life. Now, the children of these adoptions are coming of age as adults. Dr. Jaiya John, through his honest memoir, presents us with a voice from deep within the heart of this cultural and psychological phenomenon. The first Black child in the history of New Mexico to be adopted by a white family, John's story is a landmark. Pact says: John's adpotive parents taught him how to love; hence, he could readily accept and envelope his biological family. Had he been denied unflinching love as a child, there might have been bitterness and resentment toward his biological parents for their absence in his life. The reader meets an emotional healthy person who successfully evolves from a darkness into the light of love. |
Daughter of the Ganges by Asha Miro $14.00 Daughter of the Ganges is a moving, 2-part account of the author's search for her roots in India, from where she was taken as an almost 7- year old to be adopted by a loving couple from Barcelona, Spain. The first part of the book details her first trip back to India, as a 27 year old, yearning to find the missing pieces in what little information she has about her first seven years of life and the second part of her book, details her return to India and her search for biological family. Pact says: Miro writes eloquently about the importance to her of searching and finding that connection, of seeing herself reflected in biological family members and of finally being able to imagine what her life would have been like had her circumstances been different. |
Dim Sum, Bagels and Grits: A Sourcebook for Multicultural Families by Myra Alperson $15.00 Alperson will take you on a thoughtful, provocative and cheerful personal journey into the identity issues of multicultural adoptive families through her own experience of adopting her daughter Sadie from China as a single mother. This fascinating introduction to the diversity of approaches and attitudes among such families is enriched by voices not often heard from. Including lively stories from transracial adoptees and adoptive parents along with the author's own straightforward views. Pact says: Alperson's approach provides a wonderful jump start to the thinking of anyone considering transracial adoption. |
In Their Own Voices by Rita Simon & Rhonda Roorda $27.50 In this collection of interviews conducted with black and biracial young adults who were adopted by white parents, the authors present the personal stories of twenty four individuals who hail from a wide range of religious, economic, political, and professional backgrounds. How does the experience affect their racial and social identities, their choice of friends and marital partners, and their lifestyles? In addition to interviews, the book includes overviews of both the history and current legal status of transracial adoption. Pact says: This book should be in the library of every transracial adoptive family. |
In Their Parents' Voices by Rita Simon and Rhonda Roorda $27.50 In this collection of interviews conducted with the parents of black and biracial young adoptees who were interviewed for In Their Own Voices. In addition to interviews, the book includes overviews of both the history and current legal status of transracial adoption. Pact says: This book offers some good insights from experienced parents who discuss their experience and their children's from the long view of having completed the task of raising their children. Another important contribution to the literature on transracial adoption. |
Inside Transracial Adoption by Gail Steinberg & Beth Hall $24.95 A good read, filled with warmth and humor, this book offers families and professionals insight into the experience of multiracial adoptive families. |
Outsiders Within: Writing on Transracial Adoption Jane Jeong Tranka, Julia Chinyere Oparah and Sun Yung Shin, Editors $20.00 Although transracial adoption is generally considered win-win, it has too often exacted a heavy toll on children when white parents approach it from a color blind or child-saving mentality. Through gripping essays, poetry and are, transracially adopted writers and artists from around the world carefully explore explore this most intimate aspect of globalization. Pact says: Experts on their own experience, the writers of Outsiders Within offer an illuminating and provocative glimpse in to the world of transracial adoption that will make many of us uncomfortable but validates the lives of those children currently placed for adoption across racial and cultural lines. A must read! |
Transnational Adoption: A Cultural Economy of Race, Gender and Kinship by Sara Dorow $23.00 Dorow provides an honest and intriguing look at hard topics in language that's sometimes painfully direct. In discussing the children who are available for adoption, for example, Dorow describes how the "industry" of adoption encourages the invisibility of special-needs children, while the "healthiest," and thus most "salable" children, get the best care in orphanages. She addresses institutional racism, gender and class issues in the specific context of US-Chinese adoptions, but her analysis has much broader applicability. Pact says: There's no denying that this is a challenging read, both intellectually and emotionally--Dorow brings her sociologist's sensibility to this academic text, and her conclusions may make the reader uncomfortable. She insists that we look at the whole truth, including who benefits and who is served when adoptions happen. |
Voices from Another Place edited by Susan Soon Keum Cox $12.00 A collection of poetry, fiction, memoir, essay, photography and artwork, created by adopted Koreans after adulthood. Their diverse and unmistakably honest voices cast light on issues common tto those who were internationally adopted in particular and to Koreans who have grown up in American or European cultures. Pact says: The importance of connecting to one's full identity, including culture and country of origin is made clear through their open sharing of works expressing their deepest experiences. Highly recommended.
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Wanting A Daughter, Needing a Son by Kay Johnson $24.95 A well-researched study of child abandonment and adoption in China. The author offers a historical explanation of China's "one-child" policy, as well as an explanation of the pressures that lead families to decide to parent boys, not girls. The author also discusses the informal adoption system through which many families in China do, in fact, take in and keep their girls. Pact says: This book is ESSENTIAL reading for any family adopting from China. |