Adoption Is a Lifelong Journey
by Kelly DiBenedetto, Katie Gorczyca, and Jennifer Eckert
Meet Charlie, an adoptee who opens his heart and shares what’s on his mind through various phases as he grows up in his adoptive home. As the narrator of Adoption


An-Ya and Her Diary
by Diane René Christian
An-Ya and Her Diary chronicles the journey of a fictional eleven-year-old adoptee from China. Written in diary format, young An-Ya reveals her emotional journey as she is catapulted from a


Ballerina Dreams: From Orphan to Dancer (Step Into Reading, Step 4)
by Michaela DePrince and Elaine DePrince
At the age of three, Michaela DePrince found a photo of a ballerina that changed her life. She was living in an orphanage in Sierra Leone at the time, but


Borya and the Burps: An Eastern European Adoption Story
by Joan McNamara, illustrated by Dawn Majewski
In recent years more children have been adopted from Eastern Europe, Russia, and the former Soviet Bloc countries than from any other region of the world. Yet until now, there


Cooper's Lesson
by Sun Yung Shin, illustrated by Kim Cogan
Cooper caught his reflection in the window. Brown hair, fair skin, and some freckles. Grandmother Park always said, "Such white skin!" and Grandmother Daly always said, "What brown skin!" One


Dear Wonderful You: Letters to Adopted & Fostered Youth
Edited by Diane René Christian and Mei-Mei Akwai Ellerman, PhD
A powerful book filled with thoughtful and inspiring letters. This anthology was written by a global community of adult adoptees and adults who were fostered. Each letter was penned to


Everyone Hates Kelsie Miller
by Meredith Ireland
There’s no one Kelsie Miller hates more than Eric Mulvaney Ortiz—the homecoming king, captain of the football team, and academic archrival in her hyper-competitive prep school. But after Kelsie’s best


For Black Girls Like Me
by Mariama J. Lockington
Makeda June Kirkland is eleven-years-old, adopted, and black. Her parents and big sister are white, and even though she loves her family very much, Makeda often feels left out. When


Forever Fingerprints: An Amazing Discovery for Adopted Children
by Sherrie Eldridge
Heart-warming and playful, Forever Fingerprints shows how adoptive parents can use a common occurrence--a relative's pregnancy--as a springboard for discussions about birth parents. Lucie is excited to feel a baby moving


Frankie and Friends Talk Adoption
by Pam Kroskie and Marcie Keithley
Frankie and Friends will help the youngest of adopted children and their parents navigate through the feelings often experienced but difficult to articulate. The narrator is Frankie, a lovable character who


The Girl and the Grove
by Eric Smith
Teenager Leila's life is full of challenges. From bouncing around the foster care system to living with seasonal affective disorder, she's never had an easy road. Leila keeps herself busy


The Girl I Am, Was, and Never Will Be: A Speculative Memoir of Transracial Adoption
by Shannon Gibney
Part memoir, part speculative fiction, this novel explores the often surreal experience of growing up as a mixed-Black transracial adoptee. Dream Country author Shannon Gibney returns with a new book woven


The Girl in the Mirror: A Novel in Poems and Journal Entries
by Meg Kearney
An adopted teen's search for her birth mother is overshadowed by a wrenching loss, dramatically told through her poems and journals. Lizzie McLane, the adopted poet-heroine of the widely acclaimed The


GreenBean: True Blue Family
by Elizabeth Blake
More than anything, GreenBean wants to feel like she belongs in her family. She does not look like them. She does not like the same things as them. So she


Hey, Kiddo
by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
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


The How and the Why
by Cynthia Hand
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,


Jack & Emma's Adoptee Journey
by Pam Kroskie
Jack & Emma’s Adoptee Journey is a children’s book that will help open the lines of communication between the adoptive parent and the adoptee. The book will also help the


The Jasmine Project
by Meredith Ireland
Jenny Han meets The Bachelorette in this effervescent romantic comedy about a teen Korean American adoptee who unwittingly finds herself at the center of a competition for her heart, as orchestrated by


Kids Like Me in China
by Ying Ying Fry (with Amy Klatzkin)
In this first view of China adoption from a child's perspective, eight-year-old Ying Ying Fry returns to her orphanage to remember what it is like and to write a story


Kimchi & Calamari
by Rose Kent
There are worse things in the world than being adopted. But right now Joseph can't think of one. Joseph Calderaro has a serious problem. His social studies teacher has given


Lyncoya: Andrew Jackson's Adopted Indian Son
by Mary S. Payne
When an American soldier plucks two-year-old Lyncoya from an Indian battlefield in 1813, General Andrew Jackson adopts him. He sends the youngster to his plantation home, where he can grow


Monstrous: A Transracial Adoption Story
by Sarah Myer
Sarah has always struggled to fit in. Born in South Korea and adopted at birth by a white couple, she grows up in a rural community with few Asian neighbors.


Rose's Locket
by Shannon Quist
Adopted teenager Izzie grew up with an incomplete story about her past. That is, until her eighteenth birthday, when her parents reveal a set of documents that give Izzie more


The Secret of Me: A Novel in Poems
by Meg Kearney
The acclaimed story of an adopted teenager's quest to find her place among family, friends, and the wider world. Fourteen-year old Lizzie, as well as her older brother and sister,


See No Color
by Shannon Gibney
Despite some teasing, being a biracial girl adopted by a white family didn't used to bother Alex much. She was a stellar baseball player, just like her father—her baseball coach


Seoul Story: Adoption Picture Book
by Susie Lawlor; illustrated by CJ Rooney
Seoul Story is a bilingual (English and Korean) children’s book, and loosely based autobiographical sketch of the author's adoption from South Korea to the United States in 1970. The story


Star of the Week: A Story of Love, Adoption, and Brownies with Sprinkles
by Darlene Friedman
It's Cassidy-Li's turn to be Star of the Week at school! So she's making brownies and collecting photos for her poster. She has pictures of all the important people in


Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina
by Michaela DePrince with Elaine DePrince
Michaela DePrince was known as girl Number 27 at the orphanage, where she was abandoned at a young age and tormented as a “devil child” for a skin condition that


Three Little Words: A Memoir
by Ashley Rhodes-Courter
An inspiring true story of the tumultuous nine years Ashley Rhodes-Courter spent in the foster care system, and how she triumphed over painful memories and real-life horrors to ultimately find


Three More Words
by Ashley Rhodes-Courter
Ashley Rhodes-Courter spent a harrowing nine years of her life in fourteen different foster homes. Her memoir, Three Little Words, captivated audiences everywhere and went on to become a New


Umbilicus
by Paula Gruben
Charlotte van Katwijk guards herself like a secret. Kids are cruel, and she knows if they find out she’s adopted, she’ll be a bully’s easy target. When they are fourteen,


Unstoppable
by Tim Green
If anyone understands the phrase "tough luck," it's Harrison. As a foster kid in a cruel home, he knows his dream of one day playing in the NFL is a


What Is a Part of Me?
by Ola Zuri
This is the story of a young girl adopted transracially who has some struggles with finding answers to some difficult questions. Follow along with her as she learns some things


What Is Adoption?
by Jeanette Yoffe; Illustrated by Devika Joglekar
A book appropriate for all children and families connected by adoption. Beautifully illustrated, this work provides a deeper understanding of how the adoption process works and the feelings that many


When We Become Ours: A YA Adoptee Anthology
Edited by Shannon Gibney and Nicole Chung
There is no universal adoption experience, and no two adoptees have the same story. This anthology for teens edited by Shannon Gibney and Nicole Chung contains a wide range of


When You Never Said Goodbye: An Adoptee's Search for Her Birth Mother: A Novel in Poems and Journal Entries
by Meg Kearney
A student at NYU in Greenwich Village, Liz McLane is pursuing her dream of becoming a poet and, at the same time, determined to find her birth mother, no matter


When You Were Born in China: A Memory Book for Children Adopted from China
by Sara Dorow
This book utilizes photographs to educate about life in China and includes information about Chinese social policies, orphanages, and the journey of an adopted child to the United States. Author: Sara


Where Do I Belong?
by Ola Zuri
The story is about a young boy who was adopted transracially and feels that something in his family isn't quite right. He wonders and worries about where he fits and


Where We Come From
by Diane Wilson, Sun Yung Shin, Shannon Gibney, John Coy; Illustrated by Dion MBD
In this unique collaboration, four authors lyrically explore where they each come from―literally and metaphorically―as well as what unites all of us as humans. Richly layered illustrations connect past and


Why Can't You Look Like Me?
by Ola Zuri
Follow along on a young girl's journey as she wonders Why Can't You Look Like Me of those around her. She is an African American girl adopted transracially and feels