News
Introducing the Adoptee Reading Bookshop
We’re happy to share that Adoptee Reading now has a storefront on Bookshop.org. For those unfamiliar, Bookshop is a website launched earlier this year that
Recently Published & Forthcoming Books
Surviving the White Gaze: A Memoir
Rebecca Carroll grew up the only black person in her rural New Hampshire town. Adopted at birth by artistic parents who believed in peace, love, and zero population growth, her
American Baby: A Mother, a Child, and the Shadow History of Adoption
During the Baby Boom in 1960s America, women were encouraged to stay home and raise large families, but sex and childbirth were taboo subjects. Premarital sex was common, but birth
Craft in the Real World: Rethinking Fiction Writing and Workshopping
The traditional writing workshop was established with white male writers in mind; what we call craft is informed by their cultural values. In this bold and original examination of elements
We Are All Human Beings: An Adoptee Ponders
Paul Kimball, a biracial adoptee, explores his own abandonment issues as he searches and eventually reunites with his birth parents. After a seemingly joyous reunion, his birth mother, a Caucasian
Search & Reunion
Surviving the White Gaze: A Memoir
Rebecca Carroll grew up the only black person in her rural New Hampshire town. Adopted at birth by artistic parents who believed in peace, love, and zero population growth, her
American Baby: A Mother, a Child, and the Shadow History of Adoption
During the Baby Boom in 1960s America, women were encouraged to stay home and raise large families, but sex and childbirth were taboo subjects. Premarital sex was common, but birth
We Are All Human Beings: An Adoptee Ponders
Paul Kimball, a biracial adoptee, explores his own abandonment issues as he searches and eventually reunites with his birth parents. After a seemingly joyous reunion, his birth mother, a Caucasian
Psychology/Self-help
The Presence of Absence: A Story About Busyness, Brokenness, and Being Beloved
We wear busyness as a badge of accomplishment and personal success. But when we use it to fill a void, being busy can become an addiction. Busyness helps us feel
Rooted in Adoption: A Collection of Adoptee Reflections
Rooted in Adoption: A Collection of Adoptee Reflections is a collection of short narratives from those who have been adopted. Adoptees of various ages, backgrounds, and experiences were asked discuss
Groundbreaking Interventions: Working with Traumatized Children, Teens and Families in Foster Care and Adoption
A book of 16 interventions designed to teach new and imaginative ways for working with traumatized children in foster care and adoption and their families. Groundbreaking Interventions provides a wide
Anthologies
Mixed Korean: Our Stories
From the struggles of the Korean War, to the modern dilemmas faced by those who are mixed race, comes an assortment of stories that capture the essence of what it
Through Adopted Eyes: A Collection of Memoirs From Adoptees
Through Adopted Eyes explores the world of adoption from the viewpoint of adoptees. Russian adoptee Elena S. Hall shares her own story and thoughts on the subject of adoption in
Decoding Our Origins: The Lived Experiences of Colombian Adoptees
Decoding Our Origins: The Lived Experiences of Colombian Adoptees is written by seventeen authors who were born in Colombia and adopted internationally. Their individual stories illustrate different aspects of the
Journalism/Research
American Baby: A Mother, a Child, and the Shadow History of Adoption
During the Baby Boom in 1960s America, women were encouraged to stay home and raise large families, but sex and childbirth were taboo subjects. Premarital sex was common, but birth control was hard to get and abortion was illegal. In 1961, sixteen-year-old Margaret Erle fell in love and became pregnant. Her enraged family sent her to a maternity home, and after she gave birth, she wasn’t even allowed to hold her own son. Social workers
Adoption’s Hidden History: Steps to Sealing the Records (Vol. 2)
An estimated six million Americans are adopted. The development of laws and regulations facilitating this process has been shrouded in mystery. “Adoption’s Hidden History” is for anyone who has ever been touched by adoption. From Myra Clark Gaines’ nineteenth century court fight for recognition as her birth father’s daughter to Jean Paton’s crusade for the right of adult adoptees to know their own history, Mary Payne weaves an account like no other. It’s the back
Adoption’s Hidden History: From Native American Tribes to Locked Lives (Vol. 1)
Adoptions are finalized daily across America. Like the root system of a giant oak, tentacles of its history are submerged in years of human experience. Native Americans adopted children and adults into their tribes before pilgrims settled in the New World. Early-day adoption advocates took detailed notes of tribal organization leading to adoption’s acceptance by the general population. Using Oklahoma as an example, this study details how state leaders promoted adoption as a way to
Children/Teens
The How and the Why
Cassandra McMurtrey has the best parents a girl could ask for; they’ve given Cass a life she wouldn’t trade for the world. She has everything she needs—but she has questions,
Hey, Kiddo
In kindergarten, Jarrett Krosoczka’s teacher asks him to draw his family, with a mommy and a daddy. But Jarrett’s family is much more complicated than that. His mom is an
Poetry
Ghost Face
In his third DC Books title, Ghost Face, Greg Santos explores what it means to have been a Cambodian infant adopted by a Canadian family. Through a uniquely playful and self-reflective
Arabilis
Arabilis integrates the ordeal of othering into the fundamental uncertainty of life to produce a collection that is honest in its pain, confusion, and joy. Beautiful and desolate as a rural
Fiction
The Adoption (two volumes)
Vol. 1: Gabriel’s retired life is turned upside down when his son and daughter-in-law adopt an orphaned girl from Peru. He was barely much of a father to his own
The How and the Why
Cassandra McMurtrey has the best parents a girl could ask for; they’ve given Cass a life she wouldn’t trade for the world. She has everything she needs—but she has questions,