ReadingGrrls Paper Safari

Title:   Mailbox: A Scattershot Novel of Racing, Dares and Danger, Occasional Nakedness, and Faith by Nancy Freund Publisher: Gobreau Press Format: advanced ebook received from publisher through netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review Pages: 232 pages Genre: Fiction, coming of age This title was release May 10, 2015 Synopsis:  The Drue family moved from New York to Small Town, USA in the '70s, and they may never fully fit in. Thirteen-year-old Sandy's parents encourage her curiosity, her imagination, and her challenge of social conventions - but not without cost. Sandy and her brother are now learning about horses, cows, swimming pools, and guns. An artist and intellectual, their mother feels like she's hosting foreign exchange students who never leave. Sandy loves the idea of this - both hosting foreign students and traveling the world. As a start, she begins writing letters to distant friends and to the universe, seeking answers to the biggest quest...

Title:  A Beautiful Blue Death (Charles Lenox Mysteries) by Charles Finch Publisher:  St. Martin's Press Format: e-book received from the publisher from netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review Pages: 324 Pages Genre: Mystery This title was released on June 26, 2007 Synopsis: Charles Lenox, Victorian gentleman and armchair explorer, likes nothing more than to relax in his private study with a cup of tea, a roaring fire and a good book. But when his lifelong friend Lady Jane asks for his help, Lenox cannot resist the chance to unravel a mystery. Prudence Smith, one of Jane's former servants, is dead of an apparent suicide. But Lenox suspects something far more sinister: murder, by a rare and deadly poison. The grand house where the girl worked is full of suspects, and though Prue had dabbled with the hearts of more than a few men, Lenox is baffled by the motive for the girl's death. When another body turns up during the London season's most fash...

Title:   Anything For Amelia: A true story of the challenges endured by two gay men who had the desire to adopt a child. by Andrew C. Branham Publisher: First Edition Design Publishing Format: Kindle Pages: 209 pages Genre: Adoption, memoir, lgbt Synopsis:  A true story of the challenges endured by two gay men who had the desire to adopt a child. When Andrew and DJ decided to adopt and bring a child into their lives, little did they know what they were about to endure; yet never did the thought cross their minds to give up. The horrific, pitilessly, and beyond comprehensible hoops one woman would make them jump through demonstrates beyond a shadow of a doubt that little Amelia was going to be much better off in the loving home that Drew and DJ could provide her. Just when you think, how can two people survive such a nightmare and the journey is just about over when little Amelia is born and will be safely in the arms of her loving dads, Sandi decides to pull one ...

Title:   Half a World Away by Cynthia Kadohata Publisher:  Atheneum Books for Young Readers Format: Kindle Pages: 256 pages Genre: Adoption Synopsis:  Eleven-year-old Jaden is adopted, and he knows he’s an “epic fail.” That’s why his family is traveling to Kazakhstan to adopt a new baby—to replace him, he’s sure. And he gets it. He is incapable of stopping his stealing, hoarding, lighting fires, aggressive running, and obsession with electricity. He knows his parents love him, but he feels...nothing. When they get to Kazakhstan, it turns out the infant they’ve traveled for has already been adopted, and literally within minutes are faced with having to choose from six other babies. While his parents agonize, Jaden is more interested in the toddlers. One, a little guy named Dimash, spies Jaden and barrels over to him every time he sees him. Jaden finds himself increasingly intrigued by and worried about Dimash. Already three years old and barely able to speak, D...

Title: How Open Should My Adoption Be?: Levels of Openness In Adoption (Guide to a Healthy Adoptive Family, Adoption Parenting, and Open Relationships Book 3) by Russell Elkins Publisher:  Inky's Nest Publishing Format: Kindle Pages: 50 Genre: Adoption, Synopsis:  This book is part of a four book series that can be purchased together as an ebook set. An open adoption relationship can be scary! Open adoption means that an adopted child has a relationship with his or her biological family. But just how “open” should that relationship be? There is nothing in this world like an open adoption. Because of that, it’s hard to foresee the many different scenarios that will come. You do your best to plan ahead, but you’ll still find yourself in situations you hadn’t fully considered. Should you connect with your child’s birthparents on social media? Should you allow face-to-face visits? How often should you share photos and letters? This book cannot answer these types ...

After a few years of writing book reviews here at New Paper Adventures, I felt I needed a change. The blog remains the same only the name has changed, slightly.  It is now Paper Safari: ReadingGrrls adventures into the magical world of books.  You can still find us here at newpaperadventures.blogspot.com or you can use our new url www.readinggrrl.com (yes that is two rr's and no i in Girl). I hope you keep following, commenting and reading!

Title:  Which One of You is the Mother?: The Absolutely Positively True Adoption Story of Two Gay Dads by Sean Michael O'Donnell Publisher: Amazon Digital Services Format: Kindle Pages: 130 pages Genre: Adoption, LGBT Synopsis:  After fifteen years of up-all-night gay disco dance parties, Sean O'Donnell and his longtime partner Todd decided to trade in their leather chaps for mom jeans and start a family. In August 2012 the not-so ambiguously gay duo walked into a Pittsburgh-based adoption agency and said, "We'd like a child, please." For the next several months they attended parenting classes, subjected themselves to probing FBI background checks, and completed enough paperwork to reforest the whole of the Amazon River basin. Despite lacking a magical baby-making vagina the pair successfully made omelets without eggs when in July 2013 they flew to Oregon to meet their seven-year-old son for the first time. No longer Sean and Todd they would now be fore...

Title:   A Blossom of Bright Light (A Jimmy Vega Mystery Book 2) by Suzanne Chazin Publisher: Kensington Books Format: e-galley received from the publisher through netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review Pages: 368 Genre: Mystery This title was published on October 27, 2015 Synopsis:  A split-second decision thrusts Detective Jimmy Vega into the epicenter of a disturbing case when a body is found near a gathering place for immigrants in upscale Lake Holly, NY. The cold-bloodedness of the crime and the innocence of the victim torment Vega. But so, too, does the feeling that he's to blame. Or is he? Could the ravings of a delusional vagrant hold the key to the killing? And if so, why can't the police locate him? In a community gripped by fear of deportation, Vega needs the help of his girlfriend, activist Adele Figueroa, to gain people's trust. But Adele is acting strangely, consumed by a secret that threatens to tear them apart. When the case takes a...

Title:   In Their Voices: Black Americans on Transracial Adoption by Rhonda M Roorda Publisher: Columbia University Press Format: Paperback Pages: 352 pages Genre: Adoption, race Synopsis:  While many proponents of transracial adoption claim that American society is increasingly becoming "color-blind," a growing body of research reveals that for transracial adoptees of all backgrounds, racial identity does matter. Rhonda M. Roorda elaborates significantly on that finding, specifically studying the effects of the adoption of black and biracial children by white parents. She incorporates diverse perspectives on transracial adoption by concerned black Americans of various ages, including those who lived through Jim Crow and the Civil Rights era. All her interviewees have been involved either personally or professionally in the lives of transracial adoptees, and they offer strategies for navigating systemic racial inequalities while affirming the importance of black co...