Book Reviews
Check out some of Pact’s most timely and popular publications. For permission to reprint or repost, please contact Beth Hall at beth@pactadopt.org.
Book Review: A Year of Black Joy: Black Voices Share Their Life Passions curated by Jamia Wilson reviewed by Pact Staff Activist, author and editor Jamia Wilson has created a fun and inspiring book for children and their parents to read together in A Year of Black...
Book Review: When We Become Ours: A YA Adoptee Anthology Edited by Shannon Gibney and Nicole Chung reviewed by Katie Wynen 2024 “Representation makes us feel less alone. Representation plus imagination anoints us to fly.” The closing lines of Rebecca Carroll’s...
Book Review: I Would Meet You Anywhere: A Memoir by Susan Kiyo Ito Reviewed by Pact Staff 2024 Listening to adoptees is the best way to learn about the experience of being adopted. In her compelling memoir, Susan Ito reminds us that adoption is indeed a lifelong...
Book Review: Adoption Unfiltered: Revelations from Adoptees, Birth Parents, Adoptive Parents, and Allies by Sara Easterly, Kelsey Vander Vliet Ranyard, and Lori Holden reviewed by Pact Staff If you’re seeking to move past the “fairy tale” and deepen your understanding...
Relinquished: The Politics of Adoption and the Privilege of American Motherhood by Gretchen Sisson (St. Martin's Press, 2024) reviewed by Michele Rabkin Relinquished by Gretchen Sisson is essential reading--and will likely be deeply unsettling for adoptive parents...
Book Review: Open Adoption and Diverse Families: Complex Relationships in the Digital Age by Abbie E. Goldberg reviewed by Kerry Woodward 2020 Open Adoption and Diverse Families: Complex Relationships in the Digital Age, by Abbie E. Goldberg ((Oxford University Press,...
Book Review: Motherhood So White: A Memoir of Race, Gender, and Parenting in America by Nefertiti Austin reviewed by Lisa L. Moore 2020 When it comes to memoirs on parenting, there are few that reflect the experience of Black parents and/or the experience of Black...
Book Review: Seven Core Issues in Adoption and Permanency: A Comprehensive Guide to Promoting Understanding and Healing in Adoption, Foster Care, Kinship Families and Third-Party Reproduction by Sharon Roszia and Allison Davis Maxon reviewed by Susan Dusza Guerra...
Book Review: Black Anthology: Adult Adoptees Claim Their Space edited by Susan Harris O’Connor, Diane René Christian, and Mei-Mei Akwai Ellerman reviewed by Aaryn Belfer 2020 Though it’s becoming more common to hear from the marginalized members of the adoption triad,...
Book Review: Flip the Script: Adult Adoptee Anthology edited by Diane Rene Christian, Rosita Gonzalez and Amanda Hi Transue Woolston reviewed by Marie-Claude Provencher 2016 “I am tired of longing and reaching out for connection where there is none to be had.” So...
Book Review: In Their Voices: Black Americans on Transracial Adoption by Rhonda M. Roorda reviewed by Pact Staff 2016 Pact is always looking for well-researched, authentic and honest literature to support families with adopted children of color. With this in mind, we...
by Kerry Woodward 2015 In the last few years, there has been a remarkable increase in children’s books that explore gender identity and gender expression. While there have long been a few books highlighting “tomboys,” and, less frequently, boys who play with dolls or...
Book Review: The Perpetual Child: Dismantling the Stereotype An Adult Adoptee Anthology from the An-Ya Project edited by Diane Christian and Amanda H.L. Transue-Woolston reviewed by Karen Bernstein 2014 The Perpetual Child: Dismantling the Stereotype, an anthology...
Book Review The Open-Hearted Way to Open Adoption: Helping Your Child Grow Up Whole by Lori Holden with Crystal Hass Reviewed by Katie Wynen 2013 Adoption creates a split between a person’s biology and biography. Openness in adoption is an effective way to heal that...
Book Review: Parenting as Adoptees edited by Adam Chau and Devin Ost-Vollmers reviewed by Marie-Claude Provencher 2013 My oldest and youngest children were both adopted, while my middle one was born to our family. As they are getting older, I have started wondering...
Book Review: White Parents, Black Children: Experiencing Transracial Adoption by Darron T. Smith, Cardell K. Jacobson, and Brenda G. Juárez, with a foreword by Joe R. Feagin reviewed by Frank Ligtvoet 2013 Each time I walk with my two African American children to...
Book Review: Brothers and Sisters in Adoption: Helping Children Navigate Relationships When New Kids Join the Family by Arleta James reviewed by Allison Branscombe 2009 Brothers and Sisters in Adoption (Perspectives Press, 2009), by Arleta James, is aimed at parents...
Book Review In Their Siblings' Voices: White Non-Adopted Siblings Talk About Their Experiences Being Raised with Black and Biracial Brothers and Sisters by Rita J. Simon and Rhonda M. Roorda Reviewed by Marie-Claude Provencher 2009 There is very little published about...
Book Review In Their Parents' Voices: Reflections on Raising Transracial Adoptees by Rita J. Simon and Rhonda M. Roorda Reviewed by Mollie McLeod 2007 Too often, the imagery associated with adoptive parenting is focused upon childhood. The reality is that parent-child...
Book Review Making Room in Their Hearts: Keeping Family Ties Through Open Adoption by Micky Duxbury, MFT reviewed by Pact Staff 2007 How to negotiate the intricacies of open adoption—the emotional relationship between two families—is often a mystery to the people who...
Book Review Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew by Sherrie Eldridge reviewed by Pact Staff 2005 In Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew (Delta, 1999) Sherrie Eldridge does an excellent job of encapsulating...