Little Willow ([info]slayground) wrote,
@ 2009-11-06 10:08:00
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Entry tags:booklists, books

Booklist: Adoption in Juvenile and Teen Fiction
November is National Adoption Month and the Saturday before Thanksgiving is National Adoption Day.

Note from the National Adoption Day website:

"This year marks the 10th anniversary of National Adoption Day, a national day of celebration of adoptive families and an opportunity for courts to open their doors and finalize the adoptions of children from foster care. Since 2000, more than 25,000 children have had their adoptions finalized on National Adoption Day. This year on November 21, families, adoption advocates, policymakers, judges and volunteers will come together and celebrate adoption in communities large and small all across the nation."

This list was originally posted in November 2007 and will be bumped up annually, if not intermittently as I think of additional titles. As I have not actively researched non-fiction books about adoption, this booklist contains only fictional titles.

Picture Books
Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born by Jamie Lee Curtis, illustrated by Laura Cornell
Our Twitchy by Kes Gray, illustrated by Mary McQuillan
Little Miss Spider by David Kirk
I Love You Like Crazy Cakes by Rose A. Lewis, illustrated by Jane Dyer

Classics
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild

Juvenile Contemporary Fiction
Where I'd Like to Be by Frances O'Roark Dowell
Pictures of Hollis Wood by Patricia Reilly Giff
Kimchi & Calamari by Rose Kent
Three of a Kind series by Marilyn Kaye
- #1 With Friends Like These, Who Needs Enemies
- #2 Home's a Nice Place to Visit, But I Wouldn't Want to Live There
- #3 Will the Real Becka Morgan Please Stand Up?
- #4 Two's Company, Four's a Crowd
- #5 Cat Morgan, Working Girl
- #6 101 Ways to Win Homecoming Queen
Find a Stranger, Say Goodbye by Lois Lowry
Runaway by Wendelin Van Draanen

Juvenile Historical Fiction
The Orphan Train Adventures by Joan Lowery Nixon
This began as a quartet. I don't have any of the books on hand, so if this is not the proper order, please correct me!
- A Family Apart
- Caught in the Act
- In the Face of Danger
- Aggie's Home
- A Place to Belong
- A Dangerous Promise
- Keeping Secrets
- Circle of Love
- Lucy's Wish
- Will's Choice
- David's Search

Teen Fiction
The Janie books by Carolyn B. Cooney
- The Face on the Milk Carton
- Whatever Happened to Janie?
- The Voice on the Radio
- What Janie Found
The Last Chance Texaco by Brent Hartinger
Returnable Girl by Pamela Lowell
The First Daughter books by Mitali Perkins
- Extreme American Makeover
- White House Rules
A Brief Chapter in My Impossible Life by Dana Reinhardt
Blackthorn Winter by Kathryn Reiss
The Indigo Notebook by Laura Resau
Riding the Universe by Gaby Triana
The Other Sister by S.T. Underdahl
Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin

Many thanks and kudos to author Rose Kent for urging folks to acknowledge National Adoption Month. Kent's novel, Kimchi & Calamari, revolves around a Korean kid who was adopted at near-birth by an Italian family. Now in middle school, when he has to write an essay about his heritage, he starts asking questions of his family and of himself. Read Rose Kent's thoughts as posted at Fuse #8.

Wikipedia offers a wide variety of adoption links, arranged by topic and country.

I dedicate this post to a little girl who once proudly and repeatedly told me she was 'dopted. (Just like that: "'Dopted! I'm 'dopted!") She is not that little any more, but I hope that she is still proud of her identity and her family.

Related Booklist: Tough Issues in Teen Fiction

Related Post: Family: Daphne Grab



(16 comments) - (Post a new comment)


[info]dvgtr
2007-11-04 07:53 am UTC (link)
Thanks. I had no idea (and my 30 year old brother was adopted...and he looks more like my folks than I do!). A lot of people don't realize that it's an option.

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[info]slayground
2007-11-04 05:51 pm UTC (link)
:)

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[info]idaho_laurie
2007-11-04 05:36 pm UTC (link)
And don't forget Rose's book: Kimchi & Calamari.

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[info]slayground
2007-11-04 05:51 pm UTC (link)
Thank you!

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[info]idaho_laurie
2007-11-04 05:53 pm UTC (link)
You're welcome! I noticed that Rose very politely didn't mention it in her letter to Fuse.... but it's a wonderful story.

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[info]slayground
2007-11-04 05:56 pm UTC (link)
I have had it on my to-read list since it was first announced as part of 2K7, and I now have requested it from the library.

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(Anonymous)
2007-11-05 12:03 pm UTC (link)
Hi Little Willow,
Thanks for the mention of my book.
I might have put it in teen fiction....
So glad you're posting about this topic!!!
Let's remember all the kids in foster care who need homes too!
All the best,
Pamela Lowell
Author Returnable Girl
Voya 2006
Quick Picks

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[info]slayground
2007-11-05 03:32 pm UTC (link)
You are welcome!

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Adoption Fiction
(Anonymous)
2008-11-13 04:31 pm UTC (link)
Thanks for the post! As an adoptive mom, I'm always on the lookout for ones we haven't discovered. You might also add When the Black Girl Sings, by Bil Wright to your list for next year.

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Re: Adoption Fiction
[info]slayground
2008-11-13 04:45 pm UTC (link)
Smiles to your family, and thanks for the support! I'll have to look that book up. :)

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[info]bookiewoogie.blogspot.com
2008-11-13 07:10 pm UTC (link)
Thanks for highlighting this!

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[info]slayground
2008-11-13 07:15 pm UTC (link)
You're welcome. It's a subject near and dear to me.

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[info]bookscoops.wordpress.com
2008-11-14 03:50 am UTC (link)
Thanks for the lists. My brother and his wife are planning on adoption so this is a good list to keep in mind. Just saying hi from the comment challenge.

caribookscoops

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[info]slayground
2008-11-14 06:17 am UTC (link)
Best wishes to your extended family!

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[info]millymarie
2009-11-06 11:14 pm UTC (link)
You know I never thought of Anne of Green Gables as an "adoption" story because they always treated her more like an actual daughter/family member and only brought up adoption every so slightly. Does that make sense?

The Face on the Milk Carton is an excellent series also, but also never thought of it as an adoption story per say.

Great list!

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[info]slayground
2009-11-07 02:48 am UTC (link)
Yes, that makes sense.

Thanks!

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