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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: Baby, We were meant for each other by Scott Simon Publisher: Random House 180 pages Genre: fiction/ adoption Synopsis: NPR’s award-winning and beloved Scott Simon tells the story of how he and his wife found true love with two tiny strangers from the other side of the world. It’s a book of unforgettable moments: when Scott and Caroline get their first thumb-size pictures of their daughters, when the small girls are placed in their arms, and all the laughs and tumbles along the road as they become a real family. Review: Extremely readable, Scott Simon has crafted a book about international adoption that is informative and describes the hard stuff  in a witty light fashion.  This is no doomsday book and while some might feel that he portrays the adoption process in too positive a light its refreshing to read the positive side instead of all the doom and gloom that is usually part of most adoption stories. Scott Simon describes his painful journey of infertilit...

Title: Finding Miracles by Julia Alvarez  Publisher: Laurel Leaf 264 pages Genre: YA Synopsis: In spite of her family's openness, Milly Kaufman has never wanted to talk about her adoption. However, during ninth grade, Pablo Bolívar, a refugee from an unnamed Central American country, joins her class and immediately identifies her as someone who might have come from his family's hometown. Then, her grandmother attempts to make a will that differentiates between her and her siblings. While her mother and father's angry reaction makes the woman back down, their increasingly close relationship with Pablo's family makes it impossible for Milly to stop thinking about the parents who placed her for adoption and the war-torn nation she came from. When that country's dictator is deposed in a democratic election, the Bolívars go home to visit and invite Milly along. There she discovers a world quite different from her Vermont home, an extended family, a boyfriend in ...

Hello, I love you by Ted Kluck - Ted is an all around jock, sports writer and coach, but when it comes to adopting his sons from Ukraine Ted is a fish out of water.  One of the few adoption books written from a fathers perspective (although this does seem to be a new trend) this book is witty and real. Ted covers up some of his frustration with humor but you have to have humor when you are told something different every day, are stopped on the street by elderly women who tell you what you aren't doing right, and have your door broken down by the police and a gun pointed at your head because you forgot how to work the alarm system in your apartment. International adoption is not for the faint of heart which this book shows in glowing detail.  One minute you believe you are adopting a daughter and the next you wind up with a son.  You think you only need to make one trip to be told that you will now need to make three.  You travel with thousands of dollars strapped ...