A Passion for the Fatherless is written to help believers develop a God-centered ministry to the orphan. It exposes believers to the Scriptural mandate to care for orphans, helps them understand why God has issued that call, and equips them to joyfully respond to that call. It strives to achieve this purpose by developing a vibrant theology of orphan ministry for the church. Each chapter is accompanied with study questions so that it can be used in both personal study or with a small-group.

From the Dust Jacket: Midnight. A small figure comes flying down the stairs of the Sweeney house in suburban Connecticut, his eyes wide with terror. “Chuong! What is it? Tell me!” Ann Sweeney, on her way to bed, grabs her son and holds on tight as he nearly knocks her backward, locked in another of his wrenching night terrors.

Eleven-year-old Chuong is reliving for the thousandth time that day in 1975 in Saigon, when the overcrowded fishing boat he was on unexpectedly pulled away from the crush of people at the dock, leaving behind his frantic mother and father. He never saw them again. Chuong’s baby sister Huong was in his arms, little brother Dat was clinging to his leg.

How the three of them come to Connecticut, how Huong (now Hope) and Dat blossom, and how Chuong finally learns to let go of the past by accepting the love of his new family is but one of the fascinating subplots within the larger drama of Patchwork Clan, the story of John and Ann Sweeney and their seventeen children.

When Ann Sweeney had a miscarriage while carrying her sixth child, she thought she would never recover from the loss. But when she and John discovered the joys of adoption, a renewed sense of love and commitment came into their lives. First there was Marcus, a delightful redheaded imp—part American Indian, part black, part “something else.” This miracle was soon followed by another: at forty-one Ann gave birth to twins! Then the Sweeneys adopted Faith and Terry. Minh, a Vietnamese teenager followed. Maria, a blind Colombian Indian girl, arrived in 1977—and before long was riding her Big Wheel down the driveway with the others.

But it is the arrival of Carey and Michael, two brothers aged seven and five, from a New York City ghetto, that swells the “patchwork clan” to seventeen and pushes the Sweeneys’ strength and ingenuity to the limit. The story of how the whole family copes and learns to grow along with each of the new arrivals is a true testament of love, pain, and pride, and one that makes Patchwork Clan a very special book.

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About the Author: Doris Lund is also the author of Eric, which was made into a CBS television movie; You Ought to See Herbert’s House; The Paint-Box Sea; Hello, Baby!; I Wonder What’s Under; and Did You Ever; as well as the movie Attic of the Wind. She lives in Rowayton, Connecticut.

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 counselor 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.

Adoption Training for Parents and Professionals. Thinking about adoption? Here’s valuable information to help you decide if adoption is right for you. This course covers domestic and international adoption options as well as pro and cons of private and agency adoptions. Visit our website at www.AdoptionTrainingOnline.com for information about Certified Training for The Hague International Adoption requirements and Continuing Education Credits for Professionals.

From the Back Cover: Her father was horrified and her friends were appalled when Ann Barley decided that the absence of a husband need not prevent her from fulfilling her desire for motherhood. Deeply moved by the vision of Europe’s post-war orphans, she determined to find her child there and off she went, her baggage bursting with diapers and baby clothes in assorted sizes. For months, the little suits remained packed away as Ann combed Holland, Belgium and France for the one child who was to be her son. She eventually finds a nine-year-old, Patrick, who suits her, in France—and then begins the Battle of the Red Tape to get him back home to America.

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About the Author: Ann L. Barley was born in Marion, IN. As a designer and pioneer in the automobile industry, (Ms. Barley produced the Halliday and the Roamer) she moved around so much during childhood that she went to more schools than she can now list. The family ended up in Detroit and Ann ended her formal education at the Yale Drama School. She played in summer stock and then gave up acting to join the staff of Time magazine. From this she moved to radio and she has written for The March of Time, We the People, The Cavalcade of America, and numerous other well-known radio programs. During the war, she was with the War Department as designer and director of Army shows. She and Patrick now live in Washington, D.C.

From the Publisher: Texas and wildcatters—they go together. And Pattillo Higgins was the granddaddy of them all. Without him Spindletop, Texas’ first gusher, would never have been drilled, and the history of the modern oil industry might have been far different. Here for the first time is his dramatic, almost mystifying story, based on his personal papers and told by his grandnephew.

It was Pattillo Higgins who showed the more famous Captain Anthony Lucas where to drill at Spindletop. He organized the Gladys City Oil, Gas and Manufacturing Company in 1892, and he located oil fields all over Texas and Louisiana—as many as 100 independent fields, some still unexplored. Although often doubted, he has never yet been proven wrong on one. In his career he gained and lost several fortunes, opened the first brick plant in southeast Texas, and operated a logging enterprise on the Neches River. He was once acquitted in a murder trial, experienced a religious conversion, and married his adopted daughter. But throughout his life the search for oil was his chief preoccupation—one he never abandoned. This is the story of a determined, dedicated individual who took large risks in order to find black gold. It firmly gives Pattillo Higgins his rightful place as one of the three or four great names in the Texas oil industry.

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About the Author: Robert W. McDaniel, the grandnephew of Pattillo Higgins, is a licensed Professional Engineer and a Registered Public Surveyor.

Henry C. Dethloff is a professor of history at Texas A&M University and is the author of several books on Texas and southern history, including A History of the American Rice Industry, 1685-1985.

A long-awaited, popular guide to events, policies and cultural influences on Romanian adoption. The authors consider recent Romanian history and the effects of institutionalization on adoptees and adoptive families. They draw richly upon first-person narratives, as well as the research findings of social scientists. For those considering international adoption, a special section is included on processes, procedures and expenses. Written in an engaging, first-person manner, the book will be an invaluable resource for adoptive families, those considering adoption, practicing field workers and college courses pertaining to the complexities and realities of international adoption.

A Pearl from Ashes is the story of how God cares for both the fatherless and the alien. The fatherless: Little Pearl was found abandoned outside an Internet cafe in central China in the spring of 2008. At sixteen months she weighed a meager six kilos and continued to deteriorate over the ensuing months following admission to an orphanage. Upon discovery that she was infected with HIV, she was isolated and had no hope or future. It was suggested that she be left in a storage room to die. This is the amazing story of how God led her to a family, and how her miraculous response to medication and love changed her from a traumatized orphan to a confident and loving little girl. This is the story of how He raised her from an ash heap and seated her with the Princes of her people. The alien: Julie Mallinson’s life has been transformed through countless experiences, including orphan camps, earthquakes and sleepless nights, to not only live in China but to survive the arduous adoption process. This is an honest account of the struggles—and joys—faced by missionaries living abroad and how, amidst the fears and cultural challenges, God shows himself as both loving and good. Finally, this is the story of the “great and awesome wonders” that were witnessed by many as the fatherless and the alien were united as family, and the first HIV positive Chinese child was adopted into Australia. About the Author: Julie Mallinson is a General Practitioner working on the NSW Mid Coast, Australia. Since living in China for three years she has begun to advocate for orphans worldwide and divides time between working, traveling to China and caring for her three children.

From the Back Cover: YOU CAN ADOPT THE CHILD YOU WANT.

Today, adoption is open to more people than ever before. Prospective parents from a variety of backgrounds, age groups, and domestic circumstances can now have the families they want.

The Penguin Adoption Handbook is for anyone looking for a child to adopt. It takes you step by step through the adoption process, covering:

• adoption strategies for both traditional and untraditional clients

• finding a child: the pros and cons of agencies, adoptive-parent associations, international and independent adoptions

• adoption law, including state-by-state variations

• foster care and adopting the foster child

Invaluable directories of information sources, state adoption offices, and adoption resource centers make this the most comprehensive guide to adoption ever.

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About the Author: Edmund Blair Bolles is a writer with a special interest in children. A previous book, So Much to Say, is an important account of children’s language from birth to age five. He spent several years writing The Penguin Adoption Handbook, traveling widely and interviewing many people about all aspects of the adoption process.

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. About the Author: Dr. Aloma Lobo has been involved with the placement of abandoned children since she and her husband adopted a child almost 23 years ago. Jayapriya Vasudevan runs Jacaranda Press, a publishing consultancy.

From the Publisher: A Nobel Prize-winning physicist, a loving husband and father, an enthusiastic teacher, a surprisingly accomplished bongo player, and a genius of the highest caliber—Richard P. Feynman was all these and more. Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track—collecting over forty years’ worth of Feynman’s letters—offers an unprecedented look at the writer and thinker whose scientific mind and lust for life made him a legend in his own time. Containing missives to and from such scientific luminaries as Victor Weisskopf, Stephen Wolfram, James Watson, and Edward Teller, as well as a remarkable selection of letters to and from fans, students, family, and people from around the world eager for Feynman’s advice and counsel, Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track not only illuminates the personal relationships that underwrote the key developments in modern science, but also forms the most intimate look at Feynman yet available. Feynman was a man many felt close to but few really knew, and this collection reveals the full wisdom and private passion of a personality that captivated everyone it touched. Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track is an eloquent testimony to the virtue of approaching the world with an inquiring eye it demonstrates the full extent of the Feynman legacy like never before. Edited and with additional commentary by his daughter Michelle, it’s a must-read for Feynman fans everywhere, and for anyone seeking to better understand one of the towering figures—and defining personalities—of the twentieth century.

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About the Author: Richard P. Feynman was raised in Far Rockaway, New York, and received his Ph.D. from Princeton. He held professorships at both Cornell and the California Institute of Technology. In 1965 he received the Nobel Prize for his work on quantum electrodynamics. He died in 1988.

Michelle Feynman has overseen her father’s literary estate since 1990. She lives with her husband and two children in Altadena, California.

From the Publisher: Adoption is one of the most emotional and difficult decisions made in one’s lifetime, whether it be a loving couple, a single person, or a birth mother that wants the best for her child. There is so much to consider and so much to learn, and even more to do. That’s where A Personal Touch On...Adoption leads the way. This highly inspirational book has 84 helpful stories by people who have been through the highs and lows of the adoption process, getting the best reward of all: a child to love and love them.

A Personal Touch On...Adoption helps makes adoption easier by learning from others’ experiences so you won’t have to say, “I’m sorry I didn’t know that” or “How come nobody told us?” Read about the right things to say and do and the mistakes to avoid to make your adoption go smoother. Read first-hand advice to help you prepare for your home study. Read how couples overcame the frustration and trauma of infertility to be rewarded with a loving baby.

Adoption isn’t only about newborns. Read thought-provoking pieces on handling the issues that come up when adopting older children. Get advice from birth mothers on what they are looking for when they read a Dear Birth Mother letter and read their suggestions for writing one. Find out how many navigated the maze to successfully bring home a child from a foreign country.

The book is cram full of ideas, tips, suggestions and encouraging stories written by regular people like yourselves who have successfully been though the adoption process.

The story of our family’s journey from infertility to 14 adopted children with special needs. A story of hope, heart aches and miracles. Paula Charlebois and her husband have fostered thirty children. They have adopted twelve of these children and are the permanent legal guardians of two others. Paula wanted to tell their story so that more people might consider this as an option when planning their families.

From the Back Cover: The Pipes Are Calling is the third book written by Niall Williams and Christine Breen. This Irish-American couple told of their decision to emigrate in reverse, to settle in Christine’s great-grandfather’s cottage in the west of Ireland, in O Come Ye Back To Ireland. They chronicled their further adventures, and the adoption of their daughter, Deirdre, in When Summer’s in the Meadow. Now they take us with them on their travels by foot, bicycle, car and boat through the island they have come to know and love in search of that “Irish feeling,” the feeling which first called them back to Ireland.

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About the Author: Niall Williams was born and raised in Dublin. He has an M.A. in American literature from University College Dublin and a Certificate in Farming from the Irish Agricultural Advisory Board.

Christine Breen was born in New Jersey and grew up in suburban Westchester County, New York. She is a graduate of Boston College and has an M.A. in Irish literature from U.C.D., where she was studying when she met Niall. They were wed in 1981.

They worked in publishing in New York before deciding to become small farmers. They live now in the cottage in which Christine’s grandfather was born near the village of Kilmihil in County Clare.

Together they have written O Come Ye Back to Ireland, When Summer’s in the Meadow, and The Pipes Are Calling telling of their lives in Ireland.

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By the Same Author: When Summer’s in the Meadow (1989); The Luck of the Irish: Our Life in County Clare (1995); and Her Name Is Rose (A novel by Christine Breen) (2015, St. Martin’s Press).

The biography of Wendy Wolf who entered an iron lung at the age of four and emerged a polio survivor and quadriplegic whose life illustrates the challenges of opportunity and acceptance people with disabilities face and the triumphs and successes this extraordinary woman achieved. After seven unsuccessful surgeries, she went on to earn three degrees, help hundreds of children through her work as a Speech Therapist in New York and Mexico and Arizona, establish the first Independent Living Center in Arizona, create a unique introductory service for people with disabilities, raise two foreign-born special-needs children largely as a single parent, advocate for many issues to improve the lives of people with disabilities, and become Ms. Wheelchair Arizona 2006 and, at the Ms. Wheelchair America 2007 Pageant, win the Nicki Arde award for her lifelong history of advocacy. Thomas’s stories champion the underdog, such as his memoir Lenny Bruce: The Making of a Prophet, in which he details his ten year collaboration with that controversial comics martyrdom for First Amendment rights. Thomas was Lenny Bruce’s only collaborator, co-authoring the comedy material on Bruce’s first three comedy albums and three screenplays, plus photographing his album covers, filming the pilot for the first feature, and booking him into critical career changing venues. Critics have described Thomas’s memoir of his collaboration in terms such as, “He superbly evokes the atmosphere of the cheap Hollywood nightclubs and coffeehouses,” and “His work sometimes reads like a Bogart script.” Thomas’s multi-faceted career as a screenwriter, book author, photographer, cinematographer, filmmaker, and public relations executive spanned the latter half of the twentieth century, working for and with A-List celebrities such as Frank Sinatra, Shecky Greene, and others. Some of his later fiction parallels those careers such as his novel Cleo and an anthology of twelve short stories titled Hollywood Tales From The Outer Fringe. He grew up in the New Orleans and Gulf Coast areas, eventually marrying and divorcing his highschool teacher, as told in his childhood memoir The Genteel Poor. He worked as a cocktail pianist in New Orleans’ French Quarter, which provided the background for his novel French Quarter Odyssey. He served a year of combat in Korea during the early 1950s which served as the background for his novel The Josan And The Jee. Most of Thomas’s work is available on Amazon.com in both print and e-book editions. Lenny Bruce: The Making of a Prophet is also available in a Japanese edition from DHC of Tokyo. Thomas will soon be releasing a science fiction trilogy and an anthology of short stories laid in New Orleans. He resides in Tucson, AZ, where he occasionally teaches writing and film production in between working on a variety of literary and film projects. More information about the author and his work can be found at www.mediamaestro.net.

A Place I Didn’t Belong validates the sometimes devastating experiences of adoptive parenthood while offering hope, practical coping strategies, and spiritual renewal for the journey ahead. The trajectory of unmet expectations, our children’s compromised beginnings, and the wounds we carry into our adoptions conspire to take us to a place we didn’t belong. Insights on emotional healing help us reclaim hope for our adoption journey. This is not a how-to or a ten-easy-steps-to successful parenting program. It’s about real life, real women, and real struggles. It’s about relationships and community. It’s about reclaiming ourselves as women when adoption dreams shatter. It’s about a journey that begins in our mother’s heart, and delivers us to the place we do belong—into our Father’s arms.

From the Dust Jacket: What does it mean to be a woman in a patriarchal world—a world where male interests, pursuits and values create the cultural standards by which human ideas and actions are judged?

For Nancy Mairs, this question provides the focus for a riveting collection of essays in which she applies recent feminist concepts to her own life. Add to this premise the debilitating effects of multiple sclerosis and agoraphobia, and Mairs’s life takes on a greater urgency than that of most women.

Walking the fine line between acceptance and denial of the world, Mairs writes of the joy of romance and the trauma of rape, the despair of institutionalization and the tenderness of motherhood. Ultimately, she shares her love of writing, and does so in prose that demonstrates her already proven talents as a poet.

In Nancy Mairs’s writing, readers will find a key to understanding much of what living is about. Plaintext is a triumph over life’s inequities that will stimulate the mind as surely as it touches the heart.

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About the Author: Nancy Mairs was born in 1943 in Long Beach, California, and grew up in Exeter, New Hampshire, and Wenham, Massachusetts. She graduated from Wheaton College in 1964 and earned a Ph.D. in English at the University of Arizona where she has served as a project director at the Southwest Institute for Research on Women. She was the Time, Inc., scholar to the 1984 Breadloaf Writers Conference and was awarded the first Western States Book Award in poetry for her collection In All the Rooms of the Yellow House. Mairs lives in Tucson with her husband and two children.

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Compiler’s Note: See, particularly, “Ron Her Son” (pp. 41-54).

From the Back Cover: Planning to become a parent is a profound experience, at times agonizing, hopeful, stressful, and joyous. Not everyone is able to become pregnant, however. When the journey to parenthood proves challenging, Planning Parenthood will guide prospective parents through the complicated mazes of assisted reproduction and adoption with essential information about:

• the requirements of fertility assistance, surrogacy, and adoption

• the medical, financial, emotional, and legal risks for each option

• the personal issues prospective parents need to consider when deciding on a path to parenthood

These considerations are illustrated with personal stories of real people navigating the often long and emotional road to parenthood—from in vitro fertilization to egg donation to surrogacy to adoption. The professional guidance and inspiration in this unique resource will encourage and empower prospective parents all along the way.

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About the Author: Rebecca A. Clark, M.D., Ph.D., is a professor of medicine at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center and coauthor, with Dr. Hayes, of A Woman’s Guide to Living with HIV Infection, also published by Johns Hopkins.

Gloria Richard-Davis, M.D., FACOG, is chair and professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Meharry Medical College, associate director of the Center for Women’s Health Research, and a board-certified reproductive endocrinology and infertility specialist.

Jill Hayes, Ph.D., is a clinical neuropsychologist in private practice and an adjunct associate professor of clinical psychiatry at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center.

Michelle Murphy, J.D., is an attorney in private practice.

Katherine Pucheu Theall, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center’s School of Public Health.

From the Back and Inside Front Covers: “I’m going to love my baby and give her lots of attention,” Jade said. “I’ll show my mum she’s wrong.”

Just 17, Jade is pregnant, homeless and alone when she’s brought to live with Cathy. Jade is desperate to keep her baby, but, little more than a child herself, she struggles with the responsibilities her daughter brings.

Cathy is worried as soon as Jade arrives: she’s never looked after a pregnant teenager before, but none of the mother-and-baby carers are free. Seventeen years old, seven months pregnant, and homeless, Jade is in a desperate situation.

But Jade doesn’t listen to warnings or advice and although her baby is born safely it isn’t long before Jade is in trouble with the police.

Cathy knows that Jade loves her daughter with all her heart, but will she be able to get through to Jade in time to make her realise just how much she might lose?

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About the Author: Bestselling author Cathy Glass, who writes under a pseudonym, has been a foster carer for more than twenty-five years. She has three children.

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By the Same Author: Damaged: The Heartbreaking True Story of a Forgotten Child (2006); Hidden: Betrayed, Exploited and Forgotten: How One Boy Overcame the Odds (2007); Cut: The True Story of an Abandoned, Abused Little Girl Who Was Desperate to be Part of a Family (2008); I Miss Mummy: The True Story of a Frightened Young Girl Who is Desperate to Go Home (2009); Saddest Girl in the World: The True Story of a Neglected and Isolated Little Girl Who Just Wanted to Be Loved (2009); The Night the Angels Came (2011); A Baby’s Cry (2012); Another Forgotten Child (2012); Will You Love Me?: The Story of My Adopted Daughter Lucy (2013); Daddy’s Little Princess (2014); and Saving Danny (2015), among many others.

If you are struggling with the behavior of a child who has ADHD, ODD, autism, attachment disorder, giftedness, adoption or foster care issues, or no diagnosis at all, this is a practical guide to resolving the problems, once and for all. Tantrums, difficult bedtimes, challenging mornings, homework struggles, transition woes, sensory processing disorder, time-outs ... these issues and more are covered. If you want to be relieved of your role as the behavior police, and to connect with your child in an authentically loving way, while still maintaining authority, this book will guide you. It’s short, as author Tina Feigal knows how busy parents are. You’ll be able to read it quickly, and start applying the principles immediately.

From the Back Cover: Lesbians who are mothers, who are co-parents, who decide not to have children; lesbians who are artificially inseminated, who adopt or are foster parents; lesbians in heterosexual marriages or extended feminist families; lesbians who have their children taken from them, who feel it necessary to give them up. Lesbians who were mothers before they were lesbians and, increasingly, lesbians who are choosing to become parents.

These are many of their stories.

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About the Author: Sandra Pollack is thrilled to see this anthology published. She has been wanting to help put together such a book for years. Feminist organizer, teacher, and researcher, she is Professor of English and Coordinator of the Women’s Studies Program at Tompkins Cortland Community College in upstate New York. She is the co-editor (with Charlotte Bunch) of Learning Our Way: Essays In Feminist Education. Both her daughters are now adults. She and her partner of six years are currently learning how to garden together.

Jeanne Vaughn is a thirty-three-year-old lesbian and the mother of a seventeen-year-old son. She is a graduate student in Latin American literature at San Jose State University.

Sandra and Jeanne bring years of lesbian parenting experience and political activism to this groundbreaking collection.

Elly Bulkin was a founding editor (1976-84) of Conditions, a feminist magazine of writing by women with an emphasis on writing by lesbians. She edited Lesbian Fiction and co-edited, with Joan Larkin, Lesbian Poetry, two anthologies (Gay Presses of New York). With Minnie Bruce Pratt and Barbara Smith, she co-authored Yours In Struggle: Three Feminist Perspectives On Anti-Semitism And Racism (Firebrand Books). Most recently, she helped put together “Coming Out, Coming Home: Lesbian and Gay Jews and the Jewish Community,” a New Jewish Agenda National Feminist Task Force pamphlet. For more than a dozen years, she and Jan Clausen have co-parented their daughter, Anna.

Pat Parker has published five books of poetry. Her latest is Jonestown & Other Madness (Firebrand Books). She is a director of the Oakland Feminist Women’s Health Center and lives in Pleasant Hill, California with her lover and children.

Nancy D. Polikoff has written about legal issues of lesbian mothers for more than a decade. She was a founding member of the Washington, D.C., Feminist Law Collective, has worked as a staff attorney for the Women’s Legal Defense Fund, and has taught both law school and university courses on Family Law and Women and the Law. She has been a member of a lesbian mothers’ group for five years and is the co-mother of a four-year-old daughter, Elena Marya Herbert Polikoff.

Susan J. Wolfe is Professor of English at the University of South Dakota, where she teaches linguistics and women’s studies. Co-editor of The Coming Out Stories, she has also written on the relationship between language, gender, and society. Her son lives with his father.

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Compiler’s Note: See, particularly, “from An Old Dyke’s Tale: An Interview with Blue Lunden” by Elly Bulkin (pp. 66-70) (during which Blue Lunden discusses her experience as a birth mother); “Self-Contradictions” by Susan J. Wolfe (pp. 71-78) (who recounts her experience as a teenage birth mother, undergoing an abortion while attending college, the birth of a son within a marriage, and the eventual “loss” of her son in the aftermath of the inevitable divorce); “Gay Parenting, Or, Look Out, Anita” by Pat Parker (pp. 100-110); and “Lesbian Mothers, Lesbian Families: Legal Obstacles, Legal Challenges” by Nancy D. Polikoff (pp. 325-332).

From the Dust Jacket: Like a tiny dynamo putting out an alternating current of wild affection and inexhaustible mischief. Poppo bursts into the calm life of his neighbors Joe and Dottie Berger. They find him irresistible, and a warm friendship develops.

But Poppo wants more. He wants to move into their house and become Josef Berger, Jr. The Bergers are a busy couple with an already full life—a married daughter, a grandchild, friends, jobs they enjoy. Although they want to do everything they can for Poppo, and although they know his broken home life is far from ideal, they also know that people in their fifties just don’t go around taking on nine-year-old boys. But Joe and Dottie are no match for the loving determination of this nine-year-old boy. Poppo gets his way. He moves in.

Poppo is Josef Berger’s moving but unsentimental account of what happens when the three of them try to work out a life together—despite the superficial difficulties that irritate and the profound ones that agonize. It is a story of love and courage and understanding revolving around a marvelous and unusual little boy.

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About the Author: Joseph Berger’s professional skill and artistry have been evidenced in a number of books and magazine articles. But the greatest appeal of his story about Poppo is that it is written from the heart.

From the Dust Jacket: Joan Crawford was one of the most incandescent film stars of all time, yet she was also one of the most misunderstood. In this brilliantly researched, thoughtful, and intimate biography, bestselling author Donald Spoto goes beyond the popular caricature—the abusive, unstable mother portrayed in her adopted daughter Chiristina Crawford’s memoir, Mommie Dearest—to give us a three-dimensional portrait of a very human woman, her dazzling career, and her extraordinarily dramatic life and times.

Based on new archival information and exclusive interviews, and written with Spoto’s keen eye for detail, Possessed offers a fascinating portrait of a courageous, highly sexed, and ambitious woman whose strength and drive made her a forerunner in the fledgling film business. From her hardscrabble childhood in Texas to her early days as a dancer in post-World War I New York to her rise to stardom, Spoto traces Crawford’s fifty years of memorable performances in classics like Ram, The Women, Mildred Pierce, and Sudden Fear, which are as startling and vivid today as when they were filmed.

In Possessed, Spoto goes behind the myths to examine the rise and fall of the studio system, Crawford’s four marriages; her passionate thirty-year, on-and-off-again affair with Clark Gable; her friendships and rivalries with other stars: her powerful desire to become a mother; the truth behind the scathing stones in her daughter Christina’s memoir; and her final years as a widow battling cancer. Spoto explores Crawford’s achievements as an actress, her work with Hollywood’s great directors (Frank Borzage, George Cukor, Otto Preminger) and actors (Henry Fonda, James Stewart, Spencer Tracy, John Barrymore), and later, her role as a highly effective executive on the board of directors of Pepsi-Cola.

Illuminating and entertaining, Possessed is the definitive biography of this remarkable woman and true legend of film.

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About the Author: Donald Spoto has written two dozen bestselling biographies of film and theatre stars among them Grace Kelly, Alfred Hitchcock, Laurence Olivier, Tennessee Williams, Ingrid Bergman, James Dean, Elizabeth Taylor, Marlene Dietrich, Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, and Alan Bates. Born in Westchester County, near New York City, he earned his Ph.D. from Fordham University. He lives in Denmark.

From the Publisher: Over 150,000 people adopt children each year, and more than 2 million parents are now raising adopted children and grandchildren. While the path to parenting through adoption is rich with rewards and fulfillment, it’s not without its bumps. This compassionate, illuminating, and ultimately uplifting book is the first to openly recognize the very normal feelings of stress that adoptive families encounter as they cope with the challenges and expectations of their new families. Where do parents turn when the waited-for bonding with their adopted child is slow to form? When they find themselves grieving over the birth child they couldn’t have? When the child they so eagerly welcomed into their home arrives with major, unexpected needs? Until now, adoptive parents have had to struggle silently with their feelings, which can range from flutters of anxiety to unbearable sadness. At last, Karen J. Foli, a registered nurse, and her husband, John R. Thompson, a psychiatrist, lift the curtain of secrecy from “Post Adoption Depression Syndrome” (PADS). Drawing on their own experience as adoptive parents as well as interviews with dozens of adoptive families and experts in the field, the couple offers parents the understanding, support, and concrete solutions they need to overcome post-adoption blues and open their hearts to the joy adoption can bring.

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About the Author: Karen J. Foli, Ph.D., holds a Doctorate in communications research from the University of Illinois (1990) and a Master’s degree in nursing (1985) from Indiana University. She is the author of Like Sound Through Water: A Mother’s Journey Through Auditory Processing Disorder (2002, Atria Books), a memoir in which she chronicled her birth son’s difficulties in processing sounds correctly. With years of experience in teaching, clinical experience, consulting, and research, Karen is currently a senior medical writer at a pharmaceutical company.

John R. Thompson, M.D., is a board-certified psychiatrist and a graduate of Indiana University School of Medicine (1984). Based in Indianapolis, he practices psychiatric medicine across the lifespan, specializing in child and adolescent issues. In his work, he counsels both adoptive and kinship patients who are struggling with post-adoption stress and depression.

The married couple resides in Bloomington, IN, with their three children, three cats, and four dogs.

From the Publisher: The Subsidy Guidebook is written for adoptive parents, attorneys and the friends of adopted children. It attempts to provide readers with a map through each phase of the federal Title IV-E adoption assistance program: Eligibility; The Amount and Types of Assistance; Appealing Agency Decisions and Applying for Assistance After the Adoption is Finalized. No publication can guarantee successful outcomes, of course, but we hope that the book with provide readers with enough practical advice and access to information to enable them to serve as more effective advocates for special needs children. Parents need to know state adoption assistance regulations so they understand what state officials are telling them. Initial administrative hearings will also emphasize state policies and regulations. Federal law also leaves some margin for interpretation, giving rise to disputes over whether a particular state policy is consistent with federal law. By familiarizing themselves with state adoption assistance policies, parents can also better discern if there may be a conflict between state and federal law. The pre-eminence of federal law becomes more important as parents proceed up the appeals ladder. The Guidebook focuses on the federal adoption assistance program, but attempts to provide readers access to state laws and regulations in the Appendix section. In some cases, the reader can visit pertinent state regulations or laws by clicking on a live link to an appropriate web site. In other cases, where the state does not provide free access, the reader is directed to a contact person to request copies of adoption assistance regulations.

From the Back Cover: More than half a million children today live in out-of-home care, and many have special problems. The need for well-trained, loving foster parents has never been greater. With this book, Girls and Boys Town offers these committed people the professional tools they need to not only care for foster children but to actually help them get better.

Our approach to foster care focuses on building relationships with children, teaching them skills, and empowering them by teaching self-discipline and self-control. Inside, foster parents will find effective, research-based solutions for these common concerns:

• Building a warm, trusting relationship with your foster child who still may have a strong attachment to his or her original family.

• Working with the foster child’s parents who may be uncooperative or even hostile.

• Creating a safe environment for your foster child, you, and your family.

• Respecting your foster child’s ethnic and cultural background while teaching the child skills to help him or her succeed in the larger world.

• Learning how to handle “blow ups” and prevent and correct misbehavior while you stay calm.

• Teaching your foster child how to stay under control, solve problems, and make good decisions even when he or she is angry or frustrated.

• Handling transitions when a foster child moves to another placement or returns home.

New or experienced foster parents as well as grandparents and other relatives caring for a child forced from home by a crisis will find help and hope in Practical Tools for Foster Parents.

From the Back Cover: Many of us find it easy to pray for the concerns and well-being of others. But when it comes to praying for ourselves, we may wonder, Should I pray for my own needs? Are any prayers too big or too small? Are my prayers selfish? Does praying really make a difference?

Praying God’s Word for Your Life gives women the direction and Scripture they need to bring purpose and power to our prayers. In her warm, approachable style, Kathi Lipp shares more than one hundred specific prayers for our lives, relationships, worries, mistakes, faith, and more. The simple strategies Kathi reveals will help each of create a habit of praying with renewed boldness, consistency, and expectation.

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About the Author: Kathi Lipp is the author of Praying God’s Word for Your Husband and is a conference and retreat speaker who reaches thousands of women each year. She is is the author of several books and has been a guest on numerous national radio programs, including Focus on the Family. She and her husband have four children and live in California.

From the Back Cover: Are you wondering if God is calling you to adopt? Are you in the long process of a “paper pregnancy”? Do you have a newly-adopted child? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, this book is for you!

In Praying Through Your Adoption, adoptive mother Michele Cervone Scott shares how families can walk by faith through the unique joys and challenges of an adoption journey. Through real-life adoption stories, scriptures, and situation-specific prayers, you will discover ways to:

• Recognize God’s role in placing orphans with forever families.

• Determine if adoption is right for you.

• Explore practical financing options.

• Pray about the specific details surrounding your domestic, international, or foster care adoption.

• Wait and prepare for your child’s arrival.

• Adjust to adoptive family life.

• Support, explain, and celebrate your child’s adoption.

• Rely on God to supply all of your needs.

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About the Author: Michele Cervone Scott is a freelance writer, speaker, and voiceover talent. She draws from my experiences to comfort, educate, and offer hope through books, events, articles, and her MommyForward.com blog. She lives outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with her husband and son.

When our son, Michael, joined our family, I was unprepared for the many lessons that I would learn through him. It has been both humbling and inspiring to experience this serendipity. God has created us all so differently, and if we allow our eyes and hearts to be open, we can learn important lessons from one another as we walk together on this side of heaven.