Nanchang Diary, The: The Adoption of Victoria Santina Huang He Ping Tartivita. Carmelo Tartivita. 2004. 179p. PublishAmerica. Love finds a way. After eight years of marriage and six years of infertility treatments, Carmelo and Patricia Tartivita sign on to adopt a child internationally. The mystery and romance of the Orient entices them to choose China. A child from China sounds romantic. The romance of adopting a child is replaced with the reality of paperwork. Adoption is forms, bureaucracies and waiting. Two years later, the day of departure arrives. They’re off to China emotionally unprepared, intellectually incapacitated and woefully short of baby supplies. They’re dizzy with excitement to meet their child.The baby adventure begins. Seen through the eyes of a new father, The Nanchang Diary is an unexpected adventure in the raw beauty of China and in the joys and fears of parenthood. Like all new parents, Carmelo and Patricia have to come to terms with a wonderful, new reality—life with a child.

Nest For Our Russian Doll, A. Verda Koene Hanrahan. 2004. 158p. Xlibris Corporation. A Nest for Our Russian Doll is a heartwarming book about a couple’s struggle with infertility and the eventual adoption of their daughter. This journey leads them halfway across the world to a village north of Moscow where they meet a small two-and-a-half-year-old child who had only known the orphanage as home. It takes you through her transition to America with her new family. This is a story that would bring hope to any couple trying to realize their dream of starting a family.

Nobody’s Child: A Woman’s Abusive Past & the Inspiring Dream That Led Her to Rescue the Street Children of Saigon. Christina Noble & Robert Coram. 1994. Grove Press. A children’s rights activist’s devastating account of the violence and destitution in her own life, which eventually led her to work with bui doi, the street children of Ho Chi Minh City. Noble, with the help of journalist Coram (Caribbean Time Bomb, 1993), describes a childhood in Ireland tormented by her father’s alcoholism and neglect, her mother’s death, sexual abuse from a relative, and experiences as a street child and in Ireland’s harshest girls’ reformatory. In her late teens she fled to England, where she endured 14 years in a physically and emotionally abusive marriage. After a breakdown, she left her husband, went into therapy, remarried, started a successful catering business, and, in a dream, realized that she was destined to work with children in Vietnam. In 1989, after her own three children were grown, she went to Ho Chi Minh City. She raised money to build a medical and social center for an orphanage there and to start her own foundation to help street children. Written with painful precision and clarity, the accounts of Noble’s own suffering are disturbing and illuminate the source of her empathy for the desperate. But at times the narrative of her adult life is vague and tentative; her children emerge as sympathetic but flat characters, as do individual Vietnamese children. Similarly, she glosses over the end of her second marriage, blandly noting that her husband “found someone else.’’ Toward the end of the book, Noble lapses into trite humanitarian rhetoric, declaring, for instance, that “we must heal each other like brothers and sisters.’’ Such strategies of detachment read oddly, especially given the honesty and intimacy with which Noble has disclosed the emotional hardship of her younger years. Despite some holes, a heartbreaking story of a woman’s survival and triumph against terrible odds. — Copyright © 1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Now We Are One: The Faces of International Adoption. David Wecker. 2007. 125p. Orange Frazer Press. More than 20,000 children emigrate to the United States each year to begin a new life with adoptive parents. Most are quite young—less than a year old—and nine out of 10 have not yet reached their fourth birthday. Now We Are One is a photographic essay of 15 Cincinnati families who have found joy from international adoption. Immigrating from all parts of the globe—Africa, South Korea, Gautemala, China, India, Hong Kong, and Russia—the story of each child shows that genetics mean little, and love means a lot. Through touching essays by former Cinicinnati Post columnist David Wecker, and filled with powerful photographs by Cincinnati photographer Michael Wilson, Now We Are One captures the warmth and love that bind each family together. Coming from wildly different backgrounds and remarkable circumstances, these children have found roles as sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters, as well as comedians, competitors, soccer players, smart-alecks, singers, peacemakers, artists, and caretakers—all the things that, given the chance, most kids do become, all in the process of becoming part of something larger than themselves. As Marguerite Gieseke, who writes the book’s foreword, notes, “In recent years, international adoption by celebrities—while admirable in itself—has become tabloid fodder and created a circus atmosphere that misrepresents reality for thousands of ordinary families.” Now We Are One seeks to restore a peaceful atmosphere by showing the simple, remarkably ordinary ways these amazing children have become vital members of their families. Each page reveals the simplistic and beautiful ways they go from being little faces no one notices to becoming absolutely indispensable. All proceeds from book sales benefit non-profit adoption related causes.

Once They Hear My Name: Korean Adoptees & Their Journeys Toward Identity. Ellen Lee, Marilyn Lammert & Mary Anne Hess. 2008. 200p. Tamarisk Books. A testament to the more than 100,000 Korean adoptees who have come to the United States since the 1950s, this collection of oral histories features the stories of nine Korean Americans who were adopted as children and the struggles they’ve shared as foreigners in their native lands. From their early confrontations with racism and xenophobia to their later-in-life trips back to Korea to find their roots (with mixed results), these narratives illustrate the wide variety of ways in which all adoptive parents and adoptees—not just those from Korea—must struggle with issues of identity, alienation, and family. About the Authors: Ellen Lee is a licensed clinical social worker. She lives in Chevy Chase, MD. Marilyn Lammert is a psychotherapist. She lives in Bethesda, MD. Mary Anne Hess is a freelance writer and editor who specializes in education and family issues. She lives in Silver Spring, MD.

Oriental Children in American Homes: How Do They Adjust?. Frances M Koh. 1984. 132p. East West Press. It is a substantial adjustment process for a child to move from Korea to the United States. Oriental Children in American Homes covers physical and emotional adjustments, Asian customs, family dynamics, social structure, child rearing methods, and more. This information packed book is an indispensable guide for anyone who has adopted, or is considering adopting, a Korean child. Back in print after being unavailable for several years, this book is highly recommended.

Our Blessings From China. DL Fuller, ed. 2008. 114p. Peaceful Sunrise Publications. This book tells the stories of nine families’ journeys to adopt Chinese children. Each absorbing account describes the unique hills and valleys involved in the process and how it has forever changed and enriched their lives. Ride along with each family as they traverse the emotional spectrum from fear and frustration to bliss and joy as they meet their children and begin the miracle of forming a forever-family through adoption. About the Author: D.L. Fuller lives in Little Elm, TX, with his wife, LuAnn, and his daughter, Julianna. He is a tax manager for a microchip company located in Carrolton, TX. In his spare time, he enjoys playing softball, writing, and spending time with his family. He is a member of the North Texas Chapter of Families with Children from China (FCCNT). He is the author of the children’s picture book, Who Are My Real Parents?. He regularly attends activities with the Playful Pandas supper club in Denton, TX.

Our Children From Latin America: Making Adoption Part of Your Life. Laurel Strassberger. 1992. 144p. Tiresias. Our Children From Latin America is a warm and engaging book for those people who are considering or have already adopted from Latin America. It is the fascinating account of the author’s personal experiences with adoption. In addition to her own story, the book covers topics such as the health of Latin American children, emphasizing your child’s cultural heritage and what to tell a child about adoption.

Our Children’s Sorrow. Leonie J Campbell. 2005. 288p. BookSurge Publishing. Each year, thousands of Vietnamese girls are sold into slave labour, only to become “srey Kouc” prostitutes. The Meebon, brothel owners, control their fate. The power brokers of Hanoi, Vietnam demand more babies for adoption to the foreigners. Many unwanted children become institutionalized, unloved and neglected victims of the system. About the Author: Leonie Campbell relishes the interaction between the diverse cultures of Asia. Campbell’s insight into diverse cultures and the people has been enriched; by researching the people’s life-stories. This work can be both challenging and rewarding as she delves into their past-lives. Campbell has been encouraged to write about true stories that capture the social and political moments in people lives. Campbell gains valuable information while working with the Charity committees of the International Women’s groups in Southeast Asia. Campbell published her first book, Cats Tales, in 1998; a children’s book written in both Vietnamese/English. Angels of Saigon was released in November 2004. Campbell’s latest novel, Our Children’s Sorrow, was released in July, 2005. Campbell’s next novel, due early 2006, The Emerald Buddha, “begins in Queensland, Australia, and leads the reader back in the past, to a series of terrifying events, as Michelle searches for the truth.” Campbell is currently completing a book based on her experiences while living in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Her friendship with an Uzbek girl, Gulnora, explores the hidden lives of women in this Moslem nation.

Our Journey to Kaden: As Told on the Internet. Faydra Stratton. 2006. 168p. iUniverse.com. This is not a book. It may look and feel like any other book you’ve held in your hands and plopped on your nightstand-but it’s not a book. It’s a blog in print. A book should be a fluid continuous stream of prose, with a climactic arch and a subsequent dénouement. This printed blog doesn’t really have those things. It has blog posts, posted comments, and emails in chronological order. It does tell a story, true—but it’s neither edited, nor polished. This is an in-the-moment angst of a first-time mother going through a Russian adoption. A memoir would be told in the wise voice of a narrator who’s been through the process successfully. This blog is told in the frantic voice of a chick who had no idea what was going on. It’s not a book, but it’s our story. About the Author: Faydra Stratton is a graduate of the University of Florida and the University of North Carolina-Wilmington, where she received her MFA in fiction. She wrote a blog to keep friends and family connected with the daily ups and downs of their adoption journey of Kaden, as well as to help others with the adoption process. Faydra decided to print it, primarily as a keepsake for Kaden. Faydra, Kevin, and Kaden recently left Wilmington for Longview, Texas, where Kevin is studying missionary aviation. This family has many adventures ahead of them! Faydra has written two book-length fiction projects, a novel, and a collection of stories. See samples of her fiction at: www.faydrastratton.com.

Out of the Bulrushes: A Tale of Romanian Adoptions. Mona McElderry. 1995. 184p. Sisu Press. From Booklist: McElderry’s story of her adoption of two Romanian orphans is certainly not a romanticized one. Accompanied by her physician-spouse, wheelchair-bound McElderry traveled from their home in Alaska only to arrive in Romania and find that adoptions from orphanages were closed because their directors worried that international gifts would cease and they would be out of work. Baby marketing continued in private adoptions by poverty-stricken parents and social outcasts, including Gypsies. Highly critical of the U.S. government, embassy personnel, and distortions by American media, McElderry speaks bluntly of the shysters (Romanian and American) and fondly of the people who assisted her and many others who feel compelled to care for Romanian children. —Denise Perry Donavin

Over Land & Sea: A Story of International Adoption. Steven L Layne. Illustrated by Jan Bower. 2005. 32p. Pelican Publishing Company. Driven by love, nourished by hope, and sustained by faith, thousands of families travel over land and sea each year to adopt children internationally. This timeless multicultural story provides a unique opportunity for every reader to take part in an intimate family journey and to witness the shared joy of relatives and friends upon a “homecoming.” This book will appeal to adoptive families and non-adoptive families alike, with its celebration of family and the enchantment that accompanies the welcoming of new family members. A diversity of children’s faces are visible with every turned page, offering lessons in how we are more alike than different in our daily rituals: naps, baths, peek-a-boo, and playing are activities that transcend geographical and cultural boundaries. Inspired by personal experience, Steven L. Layne’s gentle verse combines with Jan Bower’s captivating oil portraits to create an excellent story for reading aloud as well as a powerful remembrance for those who have traversed the miles and experienced the wonder of international adoption for themselves. About the Authors: Jan Bower is a portrait artist and a member of the American Society of Portrait Artists and the Portrait Society of America. The mother of eleven, Mrs. Bower shares a studio with her husband and home-schools her children. Her work has appeared in art shows, schools, and galleries throughout Michigan, where she lives.  International adoptive parent Steven Layne is a faculty member in the Department of Education at Judson College in Elgin, Illinois, where he teaches courses in literature and pedagogy. He also serves as a respected literacy consultant, motivational keynote speaker, and featured children’s author both in and outside of the United States.

Parenting Your Internationally Adopted Child: From Your First Hours Together Through the Teen Years. Patty Cogan. 2008. 448p. The Harvard Common Press. So demonstrates Patty Cogen, who for the past decade has studied the adjustment and development of internationally adopted children and advised their often-mystified adoptive parents. In Parenting Your Internationally Adopted Child, Dr. Cogen explains how and why to help a child cope with grief over the loss of everything and everyone familiar; tell the child’s adoption story from the child’s rather than the parents’ point of view; understand the ways in which a child’s development may begin at adoption; handle sleeptime, mealtime, and discipline problems; foster identity and independence in pre-teens and teens; and much more. With advice on language and school difficulties and the development of self-control and independence, Cogen guides adoptive parents from preparations for a child’s arrival all the way through the teen years. About the Author: Patty Cogen has a doctorate in education and a master’s degree in clinical psychology and has taught in both universities and elementary schools. She leads First Year Home groups for adoptive families, and advises parents all over the United States about their internationally adopted children and lectures to organizations across the nation on adoption and child development. She lives with her husband and two children, one of whom was adopted from China.

Passage to the Heart, A: Writings from Families with Children from China. Amy Klatzkin, editor.1999. 368p. Yeong & Yeong. A Passage to the Heart: Writings from Families with Children from China began as an e-mail conversation among FCC newsletter editors. Within a few months that conversation had turned into a book of more than 100 articles from 24 adoptive family support groups in the U.S., Canada, and Britain. The quality, range, and depth of the writing far exceeded my expectations. There’s something in here for everyone whose life has been touched by adoption from China: adoptive parents, waiting parents, family, and friends. The book covers all aspects of the China adoption experience to date. Articles by experts form the backbone of the book. The flesh, blood, and life breath come from the families themselves, sharing their hopes, anxieties, and heartaches, their irrepressible good humor, and their intense joy in building families through adoption.

Pathologies: A Life in Essays. Susan Olding. 2008. 262p. Freehand Books. In these fifteen searingly honest personal essays, debut author Susan Olding takes us on an unforgettable journey into the complex heart of being human. Each essay dissects an aspect of Olding’s life experience—from her vexed relationship with her father to her tricky dealings with her female peers; from her work as a counsellor and teacher to her persistent desire, despite struggles with infertility, to have children of her own. In a suite of essays forming the emotional climax of the book, Olding bravely recounts the adoption of her daughter, Maia, from an orphanage in China, and tells us the story of Maia’s difficult adaptation to the unfamiliar state of being loved. Written with as much lyricism, detail, and artfulness as the best short stories, the essays in Pathologies provide all the pleasures of fiction combined with the enrichment derived from the careful presentation of fact. Susan Olding is indisputably one of Canada’s finest new writers, one who has taken the challenging, much-underused form of the literary essay and made it her own.

Penguin Guide to Adoption in India. Aloma Lobo & Jayapriya Vasudevan. 2002. 127p. Penguin Books (India). A comprehensive guide to adoption in India How does one go about adopting a child in India? Which are the agencies you can turn to for help? What are the laws governing adoption in the country? And how and when should a parent let a child know that he or she is adopted? This guide seeks to answer the questions of aspiring parents by systematically addressing all the issues associated with adoption. Its unique combination of facts and personal histories makes it both informative and accessible, and essential reading for anyone interested in the subject. This Book Contains: Everything anyone ever wanted to know about adoption but didn’t know where to look A unique combination of facts and personal histories.

Pumpkin Patch, The: A Single Woman’s International Adoption Journey. Margaret L Schwartz. 2005. 334p. Chicago Spectrum Press. This adoption journal chronicles an 18-month transformation from successful businesswoman to a single mother of two children. The author, Margaret Schwartz, details her personal struggles and reveals how she navigates the bureaucracy of Ukraine, a country rife with poverty and corruption, to find the children who filled the emptiness in her heart. 10% of net profits are donated to hiskids2.org and life2orphans.org. About the Author: Margaret Schwartz was born and raised in Buffalo, NY. She moved to the Washington , D.C., area after completing college and has spent the past 25 years building a thriving sales and marketing career. Today, Margaret is a successful marketing consultant and single mother of two adopted children. Through her book, The Pumpkin Patch: A Single Woman’s International Adoption Journey, she talks about how her life was transformed after traveling to Ukraine to adopt two young children. She has enhanced her life through a renewed spiritual faith with the belief that one can accomplish anything in life. She has become an adoption advocate and is working with several charities to improve the well-being of orphaned and abandoned children in Ukraine . Margaret is an exceptional public speaker who regularly addresses groups of all sizes.

Pushing Up the Sky: A Mother’s Story. Terra Trevor. 2006. 230p. Korean American Adoptee Adoptive Family Network. In 1987, Terra Trevor and her husband Gary adopted a ten-year-old daughter from South Korea. Their new daughter had a difficult adjustment to becoming the oldest child in a mixed blood American Indian-Caucasian family. The author’s birth daughter, having her “oldest child” position usurped moved from oldest to the middle child, had a difficult transition too. To add even more challenge to their family life, their son, also adopted from Korea, was diagnosed with a brain tumor, an event that changed all of their lives forever. Pushing up the Sky tells the story of a remarkable family facing incredible challenges—compromises and insights, profound joy, deep suffering, and terrific rewards. Parenting birth and adopted children is one theme of this book. Most of all, it is a meditation on the meaning of family, and learning to let go of expectations and to forge a new identity. About the Author: Terra Trevor is a contributing author of Children of The Dragonfly: Native American Voices on Child Custody and Education, The People Who Stayed Behind: Southeastern Indian Writings after the Removal, and Childhood Brain and Spinal Cord Tumors: A Guide for Families, Friends and Caregivers. Her articles and essays are published in Adoptive Families and Adoption Today magazines.

Rainbows from Heaven: A Story of Faith, Hope & Love That Created a Family. Lynn Ellen Doxon. 2004. 266p. Artemesia Publishers, LLC. Families are made in Heaven. That was never so apparent as it was for Lynn Ellen Doxon and Robert Habiger in the creation of their family through the adoption of Anastasia, Janalyn and Lydia. Lynn and Robert’s journey takes them halfway around the world to Ukraine, and lasts for two and a half years. In that time they learn lessons of perseverance, faith, love, hope and surrender to God’s will. The laws and economy of Ukraine are unstable, the officials fearful and suspicious and the circumstances wearisome. At times is seems like the whole world is attempting to block the adoption. Lynn describes how a couple grew in ways they never expected when they set out to adopt just one unwanted child, how three beautiful girls found their family, and how one region of Ukraine was opened up to foreign adoption despite fearsome opposition. The story also covers the lives of the three girls, Anastasia, Snijana and Irena from their point of view. They begged in the streets to get enough to eat and were cared for by their older brother and sister when their mother was drunk or absent, which was nearly all the time. Then one day a dog attacked Snijana. The authorities came to investigate and the girls were taken to the regional orphanage for children under four. Life in the orphanage was not easy but Anastasia and Snijana were soon favorites of the staff. Then came the visit from a strange woman and the girls were told she would be their new Mama. They would be getting a Mama! Best of all, they would have a Papa too! Their new Mama and Papa were very nice; but as time went by, their Mama and Papa didn’t take them away from the orphanage. Snijana didn’t believe they would ever leave, while Anastasia and her youngest sister Irena, never gave up in their belief that their Mama and Papa would come and get them. Lynn shares the humor, the joy, the fear and the anger she experiences in the process of adopting her daughters. She opens herself up, showing that while she and Robert did not do everything right, continued trust in each other, prayer and belief in their love for the girls would see Lynn’s dream of a family come true.

Ri: Timeless Story of a Child Who Redeems a Man of War. George N Allen. 1978. Prentice-Hall. His name is Ri, and his leg had been blown off in an attack on his village in which his entire family was killed. This is the true story of a young G.I. medic’s attempts to adopt the eight-year-old Cambodian boy.

Ride the White Tiger. Roger W Clark. Illustrated by Christopher Kim Clark. 1959. 208p. Little, Brown & Co. Story of a South Korean war orphan who, at 14 years old, was saddled with responsibility as head of household. Later he was adopted by the author and became the illustrator of the book.

Risk & Promise: A Handbook for Parents Adopting a Child From Overseas. Ira J Chasnoff, MD; Linda D Schwartz, PhD; Cheryl L Pratt, PhD; & Gwendolyn J Neuberger, MD. 2006. 112p. NTI Upstream. Risk and Promise is designed to help prospective international adoption parents better understand the risk factors as well as the protective factors a child from overseas is presenting, support the parents through the decision-making process, and guide them during the period of transition in their lives as their new child moves into their family. The premise of Risk and Promise is that the success of any adoption, both international and domestic, is a function of not only the capabilities and needs of the child, but also the expectations, characteristics, and lifestyle of the adoptive family members. It is important that prospective adoptive families assess their tolerance for uncertainty, for the potential challenges that the child may bring, and the parents ability (financial and otherwise) to modify their lifestyle in order to accommodate the demands of a child who may be quite challenging. Along these lines, a secondary objective of this book is to enlighten prospective adoptive parents regarding the extent of what may be required of them if, indeed, they are to fulfill the commitment that they are making in taking on the responsibility for a child whose needs will unfold over time. About the Authors: Ira J. Chasnoff, M.D., is President of the Children s Research Triangle and a Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago. He is one of the nation’s leading researchers in the field of child development and prenatal and postnatal trauma. Dr. Chasnoff has published six books that explore biological and environmental factors that affect the ultimate development of young children and present practical strategies for helping children reach their full potential at home and in the classroom. Linda Schwartz, Ph.D. is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist with a specialization in Child and Family Psychology. She is the Clinical Director at the Child Study Center in Chicago, where clinicians provide medical, developmental and psychological evaluations, as well as therapy, for at risk children, most of whom are adopted or in the foster care system. Cheryl Pratt, Ph.D. is a Pediatric Clinical Nurse Specialist, Developmental Psychologist, and an Infant Mental Health Specialist. Her work focuses on children at risk from early abandonment and trauma with a specialization in attachment and maternal/infant interaction. Her research interests include the study of parent-child relationships in dyads experiencing perinatal vulnerability, substance abuse, and other pediatric chronic and acute illnesses. Currently Dr. Pratt works at the Child Study Center in Chicago, IL, as the Coordinator for the infant/toddler team and oversees clinical training programs. Gwendolyn J. Neuberger, M.D. is a board-certified pediatrician at Children’s Research Triangle, specializing in preadoption assessments for international adoption. Dr. Neuberger received her medical degree and served a pediatric residency at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, GA.

Road Home, The: A Memoir. Eliza Thomas. 1997. 196p. Algonquin Books. When author Eliza Thomas realizes suddenly, in her forties, that she has forgotten to make a life or a home, she thinks it’s time to find an alternative to her leaky, drafty apartment in Boston. After a few trips to the country, she finds an old Boy Scout cabin in a small valley in Vermont. At first Thomas’s one-room cabin doesn’t seem like a place where she could live year-round—even with the cabinets and bunk beds that the previous owners added. It’s just somewhere to go on the weekends for some peace and quiet. But with Yankee ingenuity and a good sense of humor, Thomas sets about turning this tiny, eccentric structure into something closer to home. She clears the land, builds two additions—the first to accommodate her grand piano and bed, the second to make room for her newly adopted Chinese daughter, Amelia—and she plants a garden.

Road to Cali, The: A Journey to Adoption. Corinne Chateau. 2007. 205p. Xlibris Corp. “I didn’t know if I could be a mother. I wasn’t sure if I even wanted to be a mother. Nothing in my upbringing seemed to support motherhood.” So begins Corinne Chateau’s odyssey to claim the mother in herself and embark upon an unexpected journey that will lead her to a child in the distant Republic of Georgia. The Road to Cali is about not giving up. It is the story of a rescue––of both a child and oneself.

Romanian Orphans, Adopted Daughters. Lindsay Galbraith. 1998. 152p. Stoneridge Publishing House (Canada). In 1990, reports of a collapsed Romanian dictatorship made headline news. Grim pictures of a civil revolution were in newspapers worldwide. Months later, images of Romanian orphans housed in state-run facilities were publicized. In Romanian Orphans, Adopted Daughters, Lindsay Galbraith explains how she and her husband decided to adopt two Romanian girls and the legal maze they had to go through to do it. In the second part, she talks about the challenges they faced once home in Canada. This story would be of interest to anyone interested in adopting nationally or internationally.

Romanian Rescue. Sue Smith. 1997. 215 p. Hodder & Stoughton. The story of one couple’s fight to adopt a Rumanian Orphan.

Russian Adoption Handbook, The: How to Adopt from Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Bulgaria, Belarus, Georgia, Azerbaijan & Moldova. John H Maclean. 2000. 727p. Writers Club Press; 2004. 557p. iUniverse Star. Adopting a child can be one of life’s most rewarding experiences. Unfortunately, complex policies, legal risks, and fewer available children make adopting domestically difficult. International adoption offers a solution to parents yearning for a child of their own. American parents are now adopting over 5000 children a year from Russia and Eastern Europe. John Maclean’s The Russian Adoption Handbook is a comprehensive guide to adopting a child from overseas. From the pitfalls to the practical, the rewards to the risks, The Russian Adoption Handbook leads parents through the maze of: How the international adoption process works; How to start the process; What you need to know before traveling to Russia and Eastern Europe; Making the most out of your trip—the inside scoop on customs, hotels, and food; The children’s homes, the courts, and the questions that need to be asked; Medical issues, special adoption doctors, and travel requirements; Post adoption procedures, and much, much more. Practical, accurate, and written with a father’s sense of humor, The Russian Adoption Handbook is the most comprehensive and up-to-date guide to adoption yet. About the Author: John Maclean is an attorney. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia with his wife and their two children adopted from Russia.

Russian Word for Snow, The: An Adoption Story. Janis Cooke Newman. 2001. 224p. St Martin’s Press. Honest, humorous and insightful—a story of adoption set against the turmoil of Russian politics. The Russian Word for Snow is Janis Cooke Newman’s enchanting, funny and perceptive account of her emotional journey toward motherhood, from Newman’s efforts to become pregnant, to her first visit with the child who would become her son, to the upheaval of Russia’s first democratic election. Newman and her husband chose their son, originally named for the Russian word for snow because he was born in the winter, from a videotape of Russian orphans. Four months later, they were caught up in Moscow’s social and political unrest, desperately trying to get that child out of the country. American families adopt more children from Russia than any other country. Unlike most books on the topic, Newman’s work describes in unflinching detail what it feels like to adopt. This book is a must-read for anyone who has adopted or considered adoption, and for anyone who is looking for a heartfelt story set against an exciting international backdrop. About the Author: Janis Cooke Newman’s writing on this subject has been published in numerous magazines, including Salon, and in several anthologies. She lives in Northern California with her husband and their son Alex.

Salvador’s Children: A Song for Survival. Lea & MJ Marenn. 1992. 240p. Ohio State University Press. Salvador’s Children tells the extraordinary story of a North American woman who adopts an eight-year-old orphaned girl from El Salvador in 1984 and, by this action, becomes a witness to the impact of the Salvadoran civil war on one child—her child. From the moment the narrator meets Maria in a Salvadoran orphanage, she is compelled by her terrified silences, silences that seem to reflect on a private level the gaps and absences in the official writing of the decade’s larger history. Through documentary research, through imagined conversations with the child’s birth mother, and—most poignantly—through Maria’s own stories as she begins to speak, the narrator attempts to reconstruct the reality and meaning of the child’s young life. What emerges is a portrait of the everyday life of a young girl growing up in an extended family of landless Salvadoran peasants. The reader and the narrator come to know Maria’s memories—of sleeping in a hammock, the birth of a sibling, carrying her father’s lunch to the sugarcane fields—and also the terror and violence that tore apart the child’s life and the lives of more than one million children in El Salvador during the 1980s. The narrator and her adopted daughter move from a five-day initial encounter in San Salvador—from orphanages through barrios, doctors offices, the American Embassy, and a luxury hotel—to the insularity of middle-class life in a North American city, a cross-cultural journey that intersects the polarities of North-South, brown-white, present and past, life and death. Combining lyrical narrative, documentary material, and poetry, Salvador’s Children explores cross-cultural relationships, identity, and responsibility. Both intensely personal and political, this powerful account will move anyone who cares about the rights and survival of today’s children.

Santiago. Ann Nolan Clark. 1955. Illustrated by Lynd Ward Santiago. 189p. Viking. Lynd Ward Santiago is a 12-year-old Guatemalan Mayan adopted by aristocratic Spanish family. Despite protests, an old Indian “burden bearer” comes and takes the boy back to his own Indian people. Santiago learns more about his ancestral people that he has known from his sheltered life in Guatemala City. The book, then tells of Santiago growing up and deciding who he must be in the world.

Saving Levi: Left to Die ... Destined to Live. Lisa Misraje Bentley. 140p. Tyndale House Publishers. From the Back Cover: Covered with third- and fourth-degree burns over 70 percent of his body, the tiny baby boy shrieked in agony in a cold village field on the outskirts of Langfang, China. Horrified villagers gathered around him, then walked away, But one older man stayed behind, gathered the child in his arms and went for help. His compassion and courage sparked a momentous chain of events: The baby left to die would bring together people from different countries, faiths and social backgrounds in the successful battle to save his life and secure his future. About the Author: Lisa Misraje Bentley is the co-founder with her husband, John, of Harmony Outreach, an orphanage and outreach to orphans in China. She is also an author, speaker, and mother of six children, including two adopted children. Lisa and her family live near Beijing, China. Visit the Author’s website.

Secrets of a Successful International Adoption: How to Proceed from Start to Finish. Alfred J Garrotto. 1998. 3rd ed. 40p. Bridge Learning Publishing. Al Garrotto and his wife are veterans of two international adoptions. In this book, he outlines the complete process prospective adoptive parents must go through to achieve their goal of adopting a foreign-born child. He also shares his personal reflections on the sometimes tedious adoption process and the joys and challenges of parenting an adopted child. His story has inspired adoptive parents for over a decade. About the Author: Al Garrotto is a professional freelance writer. His novel, Finding Isabela, which deals with issues surrounding international adoption, will be published in late 1999 by Genesis Press’s Tango 2 imprint. As a parent volunteer, he conducted Adoption Education Sessions for the adoption agency through which he and his wife adopted their two daughters, Monica and Cristina.

Seed From the East, The: The Fabulous Story of Harry Holt & His Heartful of Love for Orphans. Mrs. Harry Holt, with David Wisner. 1956. 254p. Oxford. The Seed From the East is the fabulous story of Harry Holt, an Oregon farmer, his wife and his six children, who opened their home to eight orphans—orphans who had been abandoned by their Korean mothers and their American fathers, eventually setting up an adoption agency to place Korean orphans with families in the U.S.

Seeds From a Silent Tree: An Anthology by Korean Adoptees. Tonya Bishoff & Jo Rankin, editors. 1997. 180p. Pandal Press. Born in one culture, raised in another...assigned new names, families, and identities ... thirty men and women write about their experiences of being Korean-born adoptees in America. Seeds From a Silent Tree is the first collection of poetry, fiction, and personal narratives ever written exclusively by Korean adoptees. The works are loosely grouped into four sections: “Roots Remembered and Imagined” (images of Korea and birth families from memory and fantasy), “Transplantations” (exploring issues of identity, race, culture, and sexuality), “Reunions” (adoptees meeting their biological families), and “Seeds” of Resolution (individual solutions, both tragic and triumphant).

Shiniest Jewel, The: A Family Love Story. Marian Henley. 2008. 176p. Springboard Press. At 49, cartoonist Marian Henley hasn’t committed to marrying the man with whom she has been dating for seven years. But as the Big 5-0 looms, she realizes that above all else she wants a child. Her story follows the heartbreaking ups and downs of going through the international adoption process; deciding when it’s time to grow up and maybe even get married; and in the end, it’s the story of a daughter’s relationship with her father, and how becoming a mother finally led her to understand him. The Shiniest Jewel is a touching narrative, accompanied by Marian’s winsome drawings, that beautifully weaves together her realizations about the joy, and sometimes heartbreak, of building a family. About the Author: Marian Henley’s comic strips have appeared in More, Glamour, Ms, Heavy Metal, MAD, San Francisco Chronicle, LA Weekly, Dallas Morning News, Texas Monthly, Austin Chronicle, Utne Reader, and many other newspapers and magazines. Live-action video adaptations of her comic strip have aired on PBS and The Learning Channel. She is the author of Maxine!, a graphic novel, and Laughing Gas, a collection of comic strips. Marian lives in Los Angeles, with her husband Rick and their son William.

Siberian Pearls: A Buryat Journey. Suzanne L Popke. 2005. 178p. PublishAmerica. Follow the author’s trips as a single Baha’i woman to Buryatia, a republic in Russian Siberia, to adopt three Buryat children growing up in orphanages there. Her journeys in 1998 and 2001 describe a little known post-Soviet country, the ancestral home of Genghis Khan, as it struggles with monumental change and poverty, but also experiences a resurgence of traditional Buryat culture needed to build new hope for the future. Join a modern day odyssey of the heart and spirit, mixed with a little luck and humor, and see how one family’s lives will never be the same. By the Same Author: The Buryat Journey Continues Overland: Siberan Pearls at Culture Camp.

Silent Tears: A Journey of Hope in a Chinese Orphanage. Kay Bratt. 2009. 430p. CreateSpace. An American volunteer in a Chinese orphanage learns to pull from the hidden strength within her to improve conditions for the children. If you have ever wondered what day to day life is like in a Chinese orphanage, this will tell it. If you have ever wondered what it is like to love a child so deeply, even though they aren't yours, this will tell it. If you have ever wondered what it would be like to move to a different country, this will tell it. About the Author: Kay Bratt was a recipient of the “2006 Pride of The City” award for her humanitarian efforts; one of ten winners chosen from a pool of over 2 million residents, she was the only foreigner to receive the 2006 award. Among eight other distinguished individuals, I M Pei, a Chinese American architect who was born in China and designed the Louvre Pyramid in Paris, was also a recipient of this award. As a part of the media coverage, Kay was included in an hour long segment shown on the top local television channel, telling the story of her work and accomplishments in China. In China, Kay served as editor and writer for the local expatriate newsletter for one term. She has also been published in “On The Spot” expatriate magazine. Her online journal entries from which her memoir was written has touched hearts locally and internationally, gaining her many supporters who all took a deep interest in the story she was sharing.

Sisters Redeem Their Grumpy Dad: Stories of Melanie, Kristen & Fatherhood at 50. Terry L Garlock. 2003. 588p. Virtualbookworm.com Publishing. Life was forever changed when Terry and Julie Garlock adopted their first daughter, Melanie, from China in 1998, then their second daughter, Kristen, from China in 2003. A new father at 50, he tells through stories of his daughters’ lives how he rediscovered what is important, like showing a child how to make alligator shadows against a sunlit wall. A father tells his daughters the lessons of life he learned as a helicopter gunship pilot in the Vietnam war. He tells them about John Synowsky and Graham Stevens, the two men who risked their lives to rescue him when he was shot down, and who received the Soldier’s Medal for heroism that day. “We learned that courage is not the absence of fear, courage is getting the job done while you’re so scared your hands shake.” “We learned that heroes are not larger-than-life and fearless, they are the ordinary people who do extraordinary things when their brothers are in danger.” About the Author: Terry L. Garlock is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP), Certified in Long Term Care (CLTC), Certified Senior Advisor (CSA) and Registered Investment Advisor. He helps business and individual clients preserve family wealth through financial planning. An advocate for adoption, he encourages and supports others as they seek to build a family through adoption. This book represents part of that support. He lives with his family in Peachtree City, GA. As a combat Cobra helicopter pilot in the Vietnam war in 1969, Terry received the Purple Heart, Bronze Star and Distinguished Flying Cross. He is teaching his daughters that every man and woman in our armed forces deserve our gratitude for the freedom we enjoy.

Small Miracles: An Adoption Testimony. Angie Mosley Stolz. 2003. 126p. Pleasant Word. From the Back Cover: God promised to bless the Stolz family if only they would obey and adopt a child from Russia. It all began with a simple prayer. “I began reading the book The Prayer of Jabez sometime early in 2001. That one little prayer that Jabez prayed changed his life ... and ours as well.” Angies testimony describes countless miracles bestowed upon them during their journey of love. Their faith will amaze and inspire you when their spiritual led adoption takes a turn for the worse in their heart wrenching adoption story. Small Miracles, a book about everyday people with extraordinary faith. About the Author: Angie Mosley Stolz of Ellijay, Georgia is a 39-year-old mother of five. She has been married to her husband Ed for 14 years. She attends Whitestone Baptist Church where she has been a member since she was 12 years old. Active in the church, Angie is presently Director of the Youth Program. She is a graduate of the University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism. Angie is an interior designer self-employed in the design industry since 1990.

Snake & the Doctor, The: The Adoption Miracle. Anonymous. 2003. 76p. Authorhouse. Three years ago, adopting a child from China was the furthest thing from our minds since we had enough trouble parenting our own three biological children. We were moved to adopt a fourth child because of the incredibly high percentage of small girls in China that needed homes. This book is a simple attempt to record what it was that our one-year-old daughter must have thought, and how difficult this must have been for her (at the time), even though she would likely never remember anything of her Chinese past. About the Author: The author and his wife are caretakers of four really great people ranging from 2 to 9 years old. Dana was their 4th miracle. He is a Professor in a small university town and has extensive living and working experience in Central America and Mexico. His wife is an attorney who also lived and worked abroad in the Philippines.

Strength of Mercy, The: Making a Difference in the World One Child at a Time. Jan Beazely. Foreword by Kay Arthur. 1999. 168p. WaterBrook Press. In a world where suffering and injustice abound, we yearn for evidence that God has not forgotten His children, that He knows each one by name. We long to know that God directs our lives and desires to use each of us in His plan to bring light to the nations. Readers will witness God’s compassion as he leads a family to Romania in search of one special child. They’ll see His interest and involvement as He orchestrates a dramatic series of events that would bring help and hope to abandoned children around the world. And their faith will be bolstered by this powerful, modern-day example of how God speaks to us...and asks us to risk for Him. For every mother who has faced the challenge of entrusting her children to God...for every husband and father who has been called to rely on the Lord’s power, and not his own, and for every believer who has longed to be used mightily by the Lord, author Jan Beazely offers the loving reminder: God’s mercy never fails. Best-selling author Kay Arthur says, “Over the years, many stories of God’s miraculous ways and the perseverance and faith of His saints have come to my attention. [This] story...stands far above the rest.” About the Author: Jan Beazely is co-founder of All God’s Children International, a licensed, non-profit Christian adoption and relief ministry. The agency was founded in 1991, after the Beazely family adopted a child from Romania, then began to assist other families by facilitating the adoption of orphaned and abandoned children.

10 Steps to Successful International Adoption: A Guided Workbook for Prospective Parents. Brenda K Uekert. 2007. 300p. Third Avenue Press. At last there’s a motivational workbook that is quickly becoming America’s definitive guide to international adoption. 10 Steps to Successful International Adoption walks prospective parents through every step of the adoption process, from exploring the idea of adoption to successfully raising a child from another culture. This incredible resource includes numerous fill-in and downloadable forms and checklists, jump-start hints to speed up the process, helpful tips from adoptive parents and professionals, and detailed up-to-date country-by-country profiles. The author maintains a complementary website at 10steps2adoption.com. About the Author: Brenda K. Uekert is a sociologist with decades of experience conducting applied research. She is the adoptive mother of a little girl from Ukraine. Brenda, her daughter, and three cats live in Williamsburg, VA.

Ten Thousand Sorrows: The Extraordinary Journey of a Korean War Orphan. Elizabeth Kim. 2000. 224p. Doubleday. They called it an “honor killing,” but to Elizabeth Kim, the night she watched her grandfather and uncle hang her mother from the wooden rafter in the corner of their small Korean hut, it was cold-blooded murder. Her Omma had committed the sin of lying with an American soldier, and producing not just a bastard but a honhyol—a mixed-race child, considered worth less than nothing. Left at a Christian orphanage in postwar Seoul like garbage, bleeding and terrified, Kim unwittingly embarked on the next phase of her extraordinary life when she was adopted by a childless Fundamentalist pastor and his wife in the United States. Unfamiliar with Western customs and language, but terrified that she would be sent back to the orphanage, or even killed, Kim trained herself to be the perfect child. But just as her Western features doomed her in Korea, so her Asian features served as a constant reminder that she wasn’t good enough for her new, all-white environment. After escaping her adoptive parents’ home, only to find herself in an abusive and controlling marriage, Kim finally made a break for herself by having a daughter and running away with her to a safer haven—something Omma could not do for her. Unflinching in her narration, Kim tells of her sorrows with a steady and riveting voice, and ultimately transcends them by laying claim to all the joys to which she is entitled. Also available to download in audio format from Audible.com.

To Romania, With Love: Saving the World One Child at a Time. Mary Albanese. 1992. Fairway Press.

Two Little Girls: A Memoir of Adoption. Theresa Reid. 2006. 304p. Berkley. In Chicago, Theresa Reid and her husband had lucrative careers and a beautiful home. What was missing from their lives was children. But they knew in Eastern Europe there were children who were missing parents—and they set out to find their family. There was self-doubt and gut-wrenching fear, mountains of paperwork and nerve-racking interviews, agonizing choices and false starts. There was the painful awareness of thousands of children languishing in poorly funded orphanages, waiting for someone to embrace them and bring them home. And there were Byzantine bureaucracies and poverty-stricken conditions in the former Soviet Republic—where, beyond the borders they crossed and the obstacles they navigated, two little girls waited. This is Theresa Reid’s account of how Natalie and Lana came to be her daughters—a journey that travels not only to Moscow and Kiev but into the deepest parts of a mother’s heart. She addresses the issues that arise for many an adoptive parent—including the guilt over taking children away from their roots, the unknowable mysteries of her daughters’ earliest childhoods, and the slow, stumbling steps toward trust and tenderness that played out between them. For any parent, adoptive or not, this book offers not only a compelling story but valuable insights into the transformative power of loving a child. About the Author: Theresa Reid was the Executive Director of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children.

Understanding My Child’s Korean Origins. Hyun Sook Han. 1980. 45p.; 1987 (revised edition). Children’s Home Society of Minnesota. This is a wonderful booklet of useful information that will help you understand your child’s Korean heritage more fully. Includes fascinating info on the traditional Korean family structure, religion, housing, diet, child rearing practices—as well as background on adoption in Korea. Written by consultants to the Children’s Home Society of Minnesota, this 56-page resource will give you an excellent overview to Korean culture as it relates to children and family.

Waifs, The. Rena Briand. 1973. 168p. Phuong-Hoang Press (Australia). A woman’s efforts to arrange for adoption of Vietnamese war orphans and the bureaucratic obstacles. Powerful personal statement, suffused with anger & bitterness because of “conniving politicians, hypocritical church leaders, racist social workers & the phony ‘charitables’ of Toorak.” Anger at those trying to stop you from coming here prevented me from writing this book with complete emotional attachment. But I hope that it will nevertheless plead the case of children like you—today in Vietnam—tomorrow in another country—wherever the big powers choose to test their strength. To those claiming that interracial adoptions are not in the interest of the child I’m sure you would answer that the waif’s best gift is a family—any color family. — From the Dedication.

Waiting Child, The: How the Faith & Love of One Orphan Saved the Life of Another. Cindy Champnella. 2003. 240p. St Martin’s Press. The inspiring true story of a four-year-old Chinese orphan who convinces her adoptive American family to return to China to rescue the little boy she couldn’t forget. Adopted by an American family at age four, Jaclyn traveled to her new home with a great burden. Her new family had to leave behind a little boy who had been under her charge at the Chinese orphanage where Jaclyn fought the odds against abandonment, institutionalization, and hunger—-not for herself, but on behalf of this even smaller child, whom she regarded as her responsibility. Jaclyn’s saga spans oceans and cultures. The Waiting Child is an extraordinary story of human resilience in the face of profound loss and suffering—and a testament to the ability of a loving heart to prevail over great adversity. Jaclyn’s unshakable determination to bring to her new life the child she had cared for in the institution, the one she believed with all her heart was “her baby,” will change all assumptions made about the human spirit. In the end, this moving story affirms everything that is good and hopeful in life, when, after a two-year effort, the little boy is brought to this country as the adopted son of Jaclyn’s American aunt and uncle.

Waiting for Me: One Woman’s Relentless Desire for a Child. Jodie Peyton. 2002. 136p. 1stBooks Library. After months trying to conceive a child, Jodie Peyton was told by doctors that her dream was not possible. With great persistence, she and her husband desperately searched for an answer. Their journey took them over five thousand miles across the world to Russia, where they discovered her dream through adoption. Waiting for Me is a personal and honest account of the pain and emotional suffering that many couples face with infertility and the adoption process. It is a remarkable story of the presence of a higher power that will inspire readers to have faith, and follow their dreams, no matter what they may be.

Waiting For Lucinda: One Family’s Journey Through International Adoption. Amy Shore. 2005. 216p. Publish America. Waiting for Lucinda is a book that takes the reader on a journey through international adoption. Written with passion, honesty, humor, and love, author Amy Shore describes the ups and downs of adopting a child from Guatemala. The truths and the fictions, the myths and the realities, the highs and the lows: this is how adoption really is. From hope to heartache, anger and determination, the will to believe when all else fails, bureaucratic red tape, an interesting cast of international characters, and the agony of the wait—come along on this incredible, heartwarming journey to meet Lucinda.

War Cradle, The. Shirley P Barnes. 2000. 328p. Vintage Pressworks. The untold story of  Operation Babylift. The heroic evacuation of thousands of abandoned orphans during the last days of the Vietnam War. Included in the book are dramatic photos depicting this true and tragic moment of history. Operation Babylift, for Americans, was the one positive conclusion to the end of the Vietnam War. About the Author: Shirley P. Barnes provided a haven, for hundreds of Vietnam war orphans in a Denver health care facility and explores the components of how Operation Babylift developed.

We Have a Baby for You: A Story of Perseverance & Faith. Rebecca A Foreman. 2002.184p. Writers Club Press. When faced with the prospect of being a one-child family, and yet having a strong desire for more children, this Midwest family embarks on what would become the adventure of their lives. Through the eyes of a mom, this book is written for all of us who know the joys and frustrations of foreign adoption as well those who may still be in God s holding pattern as they struggle through whatever pains life may deal them. A book of hope and perseverance, We Have a Baby For You, will bring you deep into the details of one family’s journey, and encourage you in your own. Travel with this family to the Eastern European country of Romania in the days following the fall of Ceaucesciu, and watch as God opens doors, closes doors, and in some instances breaks down walls, to demonstrate His love for one special little boy and one faithful family. About the Author: Becky lives with her husband, Doug, and son, Tyler on their lakeside farm that has been owned by her family for many generations. Their daughter, Alissa, is in her first year at Northwestern College in Roseville, MN. Becky home-schools her son, Tyler and has been active in her church. The Foremans would like to adopt again someday.

Lita Linzer Schwartz

Florence W. Kaslow

Welcome Home! An International & Nontraditional Adoption Reader. Lita Linzer Schwartz, PhD & Florence Whiteman Kaslow, PhD, eds. 2003. 262p. Haworth Clinical Practice Press. Welcome Home! An International and Nontraditional Adoption Reader is an essential guide to the process, pros, and cons of adopting children from outside the United States, with special needs, and/or from a different racial/cultural background. The book documents every aspect of the adoption procedure—from working with “facilitators,” adoption agencies, and attorneys to mixed reactions over a child’s possible loss of heritage as the result of a transracial or multicultural adoption. Parents and adoptees offer unique, first-hand perspectives on the cautions and benefits of nontraditional adoption. Americans adopted more than 20,000 children from other countries in 2001, a number that reflects humanitarian motives, the desire to adopt a child from a specific country, and/or frustration with the domestic adoption system. Welcome Home! is a practical resource for anyone thinking of establishing a family or adding to their own. The book provides insight into the adoption process, open adoption, biracial adoption, adopting a special needs child, cultural attitudes, and how to handle an adopted child’s questions in later years. It also addresses specific adoption issues, including: how to verify an agency’s credentials; how an agency negotiates with the birth mother; state and country laws and practices; tax benefits; and expenses, including legal and medical costs; and includes research findings on the Northeast-Northwest Collaborative Adoption Projects (N2CAP). Welcome Home! tells the stories of: Naomi and Fred, an intermarried couple (she’s Jewish, he’s not) who adopted a Greek baby in 1962; “Tina” and “Lee,” a lesbian couple, who adopted a baby from China; Marianne, a professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of Lund in Sweden, who adopted babies from Iran and Thailand—several years after her divorce; Pamela, a divorced mother of four biological children who has adopted babies from Viet Nam and China; Karen, adoptive mother and national chairperson for Families for Russian and Ukrainian adoption (FRUA); William, adoptive father of miracle sisters from Romania; and many more! Welcome Home! is an invaluable source of unusual insight for psychologists, psychiatrists, marriage and family therapists, adoption agencies, counselors, social workers, attorneys, physicians, academics, and, of course, anyone considering adoption.

With Eyes Wide Open: A Workbook for Parents Adopting International Children Over Age One. Margi Miller & Nancy Ward. 1996. 155p. So you’re thinking about adopting a toddler or youngster from overseas. This workbook will help you prepare for one of the most challenging, yet rewarding experiences you will ever have—taking a child with life-experiences into your heart and your life to be a part of you forever. This is a child who has already attempted to attach to a parent figure, experienced pain and hopefully its relief, learned to recognize language, discovered his or her own body, and divided the world into friend or foe. WITH EYES WIDE OPEN will help you reconstruct the experiences that you’ve missed from your child’s first year(s).

World of Love, A: The Inspiring True Story of One Couple’s Odyssey Into the World of International Adoption. Maggie Conroy. 1997. 256p. Kensington Pub Co.

WuHu Diary: On Taking My Adopted Daughter Back to Her Hometown in China. Emily Prager. 2001. 238p. Random House. All Emily Prager had at first was a blurred photograph of a baby, but it would be her baby—if she journeyed to China to pick her up. Emily brought back to America the baby chosen for her. She was named Lulu, and Emily was determined to honor Lulu’s heritage by sending her to a Chinese school in New York City’s Chinatown. But of course there were always questions from Lulu about her past and the town of Wuhu, where she was born. And Emily herself had a special affinity for China, because she had spent part of her own childhood there. So together they journeyed to Wuhu, eager to discover anything they could. But finding answers was difficult, and at first they were met with suspicion, particularly after the U.S. accidentally bombed the Chinese embassy in Kosovo. Wuhu Diary is unique in that it tells of encountering—and understanding—a modern but ancient culture through the irresistible presence of a child, while it reveals the emotional bond that grows between Emily and Lulu as they try to become a part of this Chinese city. About the Author: Emily Prager is the author of three novels, Clea & Zeus Divorce, Eve’s Tattoo, and the recently published Roger Fishbite, as well as the acclaimed book of short stories A Visit from the Footbinder. She has been a satirical columnist for The Village Voice, The New York Observer, and The New York Times, as well as London’s Guardian and Daily Telegraph. She is a literary lion of the New York Public Library. Her books have been published in England, France, Germany, Sweden, Lithuania, and Israel. She teaches humor writing at New York University, and lives in Greenwich Village.

Yankee Si!. Edmund W Janss. 1961. 182p. William Morrow & Co. This book is the story of the founder of the Christian Children’s Fund, which provides homes for children in 46 countries, and the United States.