• A Ghost at Heart's Edge: Stories and Poems of Adoption - (Book - Amazon.com) : Fifty short stories and poems reveal the sometimes heartbreaking, often affirming tales of adoption. Written from the point of view of birth parents, adoptive parents, and adoptees, this unique anthology spans nations and cultures.
  This book may also be available from Amazon.co.uk (United Kingdom) and Amazon.ca (Canada). Click on links to check for availability. -

• Adoption Healing ...a path to recovery - (Book - Amazon.com) : In this unique book, the reader is provided with a description of the unfolding of the adoptee's personality from birth, detailing each developmental milestone along the way, followed by different methods of healing the adoptee's wounds, including inner child work, visualizations, healing affirmations, and anger management. Every chapter includes a Myths and Realities of adoption section, a summary of the chapter and exercises to do on one's own.
  Also available from Amazon.co.uk (United Kingdom) and Amazon.ca (Canada) -

• Adoption Reunion Survival Guide : Preparing Yourself for the Search, Reunion, and Beyond -

  (Book - Amazon.com) Using real-life examples, this compassionate guide helps adoptees and their birth mothers decide whether or not to try to locate each other. Also available from Amazon.co.uk (United Kingdom) and Amazon.ca (Canada)

  -

• Birthright : The Guide to Search and Reunion for Adoptees, Birthparents, and Adoptive Parents -

  (Book - Amazon.com) : A guide for anyone affected by adoption includes guidance on making the decision to search, negotiating legalities, surviving the emotional turbulence of a reunion, and dealing with the impact on adoptive parents. This book may also be available from Amazon.co.uk (United Kingdom) and Amazon.ca (Canada)

  -

• Dear Birthmother -

  (Book - Amazon.com) : This is the third revised edition of the open adoption classic recommended by the Child Welfare League of America. Gently provocative, warm and convincing, this open adoption guide includes actual letters between adoptive parents and birthparents, and between the latter and the children they have. May also be available from Amazon.co.uk (United Kingdom) and Amazon.ca (Canada)

  -

• Journey of the Adopted Self: A Quest for Wholeness - (Book - Amazon.com) : The author of Lost and Found, the "adoptees' bible," explores the inner psychological world of adopted people and shows how the search for biological roots can be a journey toward wholeness.
  Also available from Amazon.co.uk (United Kingdom) and Amazon.ca (Canada) -

• Lucy's Family Tree - (Book - Amazon.com) : When Lucy comes home from school with a family tree assignment, she asks her parents to write her a note to excuse her from the task. Lucy's adoption from Mexico makes her feel as though her family is too "different," but her parents gently and wisely challenge Lucy to think some more about it and to find three families that are the "same." Lucy wins her bet with her parents in a surprising way and ends up creating a family tree that celebrates both her past and present. This is a wonderful book for exploring family diversity and what constitutes a family.
  This book is also available from Amazon.co.uk (United Kingdom) and Amazon.ca (Canada). Click on links for details. -

• Neither Waif Nor Stray: The Search for a Stolen Identity - (Book - Amazon.com) : A true story of a lifelong search for an identity. Fred Snow was a British Home Child - one of 100,000 children sent to Canada to work as indentured farm labourers as part of the British Child Emigration Scheme (1870-1940).
  This book may also be available from Amazon.co.uk (United Kingdom) and Amazon.ca (Canada). Click on links to check for availability. -

• Of Unknown Origin : A Memoir -

  (Book - Amazon.com) : A true story that could have been culled from the best of Chandler or Ellroy, Of Unknown Origin is about a woman insistent on re-claiming her family history and her own identity, however terrifying the consequences may be. Read more... Also available from Amazon.co.uk (United Kingdom) and Amazon.ca (Canada)

  -

• Orphan Train Rider : One Boy's True Story - (Book - Amazon.com) : Between 1854 and 1930, more than 200,000 orphaned or abandoned children were sent west on orphan trains to find new homes. Some were adopted by loving families; others were not as fortunate. In recent years, some of the riders have begun to share their stories. Andrea Warren alternates chapters about the history of the orphan trains with the story of Lee Nailling, who in 1926 rode an orphan train to Texas.
  This book may also be available from Amazon.co.uk (United Kingdom) and Amazon.ca (Canada). Click on links to check for availability. -

• Search for Paul David -

  (Book - Amazon.com) : A birthmother's true story - and more. Includes search tips and search resources. Highlights strategies and obstacles in obtaining hospital, adoption, and birth records. Relates perspectives of other searchers, as well as their trials and triumphs in seeking lost kin. Shares experiences regarding the employment of a professional searcher, the use of an intermediary, the value of a support group, the reactions of family members, and the reactions of found adoptees. Read more... May also be available from Amazon.co.uk (United Kingdom)

  -

• The Family of Adoption -

  (Book - Amazon.com) : Joyce Maguire Pavao is a nationally known family and adoption therapist who works with adoptive children and their families. Her authority and insight come from her combined experience both as a professional therapist and as an adopted child. In The Family of Adoption, Pavao describes the grief processes, dilemmas, and potentials for healing of birth mothers and adoptive parents. A strong advocate for adopted children, she discusses the difference between secrecy and privacy--a crucial distinction in adoption--and lends a strong voice to the movement for openness. Pavao is the first specialist to clearly identify and demonstrate predictable, understandable developmental stages and challenges for every adoptee, and elucidates patterns that adoptive parents may witness as their children grow. Also available from Amazon.co.uk (United Kingdom) and Amazon.ca (Canada)

  -

• The Mistress's Daughter: A Memoir - (Book - Amazon.com) : An acclaimed novelist’s riveting memoir about what it means to be adopted and how all of us construct our sense of self and family.
  This book may also be available from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.ca. Click on links for details. -

• The Orphan Trains : Placing Out in America - (Book - Amazon.com) : Click on link for customer and editorial reviews.
  Also available from Amazon.co.uk (United Kingdom) and Amazon.ca (Canada) -

• The Orphan Trains : The Story of Charles Loring Brace and the Children He Saved and Failed -

  (Book - Amazon.com) : A powerful blend of history, biography, and adventure, ORPHAN TRAINS fills a grievous gap in the American story. Tracing the evolution of the Children's Aid Society, this dramatic narrative tells the fascinating tale of one of the most famous -- and sometimes infamous -- child welfare programs: the orphan trains, which spirited away some 250,000 abandoned children into the homes of rural families in the Midwest. This book is also available from Amazon.co.uk (United Kingdom) and Amazon.ca (Canada). Click on links for details.

  -

• We Rode the Orphan Trains - (Book - Amazon.com) : Between 1854 and 1929, an estimated 200,000 children, mostly from New York and other cities of the eastern United States, ventured forth to other states on a journey of hope. Andrea Warren has shared the stories of some of these orphan train riders here.
  This book may also be available from Amazon.co.uk (United Kingdom) and Amazon.ca (Canada). Click on links to check for availability. -

• Whose Child? : An Adoptee's Healing Journey from Relinquishment through Reunion ... and Beyond -

  (Book - Amazon.com) : This novel is an account of one adoptee's life story written for members of the adoption community, helping professionals, or anyone touched by adoption. It spans from relinquishment through reunion to help the reader develop a better understanding of the lifelong emotional aspects of adoption and reunion. May also be available from Amazon.co.uk (United Kingdom) and Amazon.ca (Canada)

  -

Advanced Search
Also visit ABCgenealogy.com A comprehensive directory of genealogy Web sites.

Home | United States | United Kingdom | Canada | Ireland | Surnames