Maydeebug Bookworms

 Our Book Club 

 China-Related Non-Fiction  Asian-American Non-Fiction  Chinese and Chinese-American Fiction 

 China Adoption  General Adoption  Parenting  Children's Books 
China Adoption
A red diamond indicates that a book has received at least one Maydeebug "stamp of approval." If you would like to add a book to add to the list, please e-mail Kerri at buonacosa@yahoo.com.

Title: The Lost Daughters of China: Abandoned Girls, Their Journey to America, and the Search for a Missing Past 
Author: Karin Evans
Description Proclaimed an instant classic upon its hardcover publication, The Lost Daughters of China is at once compelling and informative. Journalist Karin Evans tells the story of adopting her daughter, Kelly, who was once one of the hundreds of thousands of infant girls who wait for parents in orphanages all over China. Weaving her personal account with extensive research, Evans investigates the conditions that have led to generations of abandoned Chinese girls and a legacy of lost women. With a new epilogue added for the paperback edition, this book will appeal to anyone interested in China and in the emotional ties that connect people regardless of genes or culture. In the words of bestselling novelist Amy Tan, The Lost Daughters of China is "not only an evocative memoir on East-West adoption but also a bridge to East-West understanding of human rights in China."

Title: Wuhu Diary: On Taking My Adopted Daughter Back to Her Hometown in China
Author: Emily Prager
Description "All Emily Prager had at first was a blurred photograph of a baby, but it would be her baby - if she journeyed to China to pick her up. In 1994, Prager brought LuLu, the baby girl chosen for her, back to America, and when LuLu was old enough, Prager was determined to honor her adopted daughter's heritage by sending her to a Chinese school in New York City's Chinatown. But of course there were always questions about LuLu's past and the city of Wuhu, where she was born. And Prager herself had a special affinity for China because she had spent part of her own childhood there. So together, mother and daughter undertook a two-month journey back to Wuhu, a city on the banks of the Yangtze River in eastern China, to discover anything they could. But finding answers wasn't easy, particularly when, the week after their arrival, the United States accidentally bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade." Wuhu Diary is a story of the search for identity. It tells of exploring the new emotional bond that grows between a Caucasian mother and her Chinese child as they try to make themselves at home in China at a time of political tension, and of encountering - and understanding - a modern but ancient culture through the irresistible presence of a child.

Title: A Passage to the Heart: Writings from Families with Children from China 
Author: Amy Klatzkin (Editor)
Description An invaluable resource for any family who has adopted or is planning to adopt from China, A Passage to the Heart gathers together more than one hundred articles published over the past few years in the regional newsletters of the leading Chinese-adoption support group, Families with Children from China, and similar organizations across the United States, Canada, and Britain. Writing from personal experience as adoptive parents or professionals working with adoptive families, the authors discuss such topics as:

• the waiting period the adoption journey
• settling in as a new or expanded family
• specific issues of health and development for children adopted from China
• the special challenges and rewards of adopting children over age one
• single parenting through adoption
• perspectives on China and international adoption
• culture, language, identity, and race
• going back to our children's birth country
• thinking about birth parents
• and other adoption issues

By turns funny, moving, practical, informative, and deeply personal, this collection is a treasure trove for all families who have adopted children from China, as well as anyone who would like to learn more about international adoption. Proceeds from the book benefit the Amity Foundation and the Foundation for Chinese Orphanages-two charitable organizations providing medical care, foster care, and other services to improve the lives of children living in China's orphanages.

Who are the new families that are appearing on city streets, in suburban malls, and at Fourth of July celebrations? The parents, in their 40s and 50s, are obviously Caucasian, and their very young daughters are obviously Chinese. This book is about these new "American & Chinese" families that are being formed through the mechanism of international adoption.

Title: The Children Can't Wait
Author: Laura A. Cecere
Description Explains how China's rich tradition of adoption has led to its current, model intercountry adoption program.

Title: New American Families: Chinese Daughters and Their Single Mothers
Author: Dr. Jane A. Liedtke and Dr. Lee E. Brasseur (editors)
Description These twenty-three touching stories of the adoption of Chinese girls by single American women are highly recommended for those thinking of adopting, or those who just enjoy a heartwarming story. Published by Our Chinese Daughters Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to adoption workshops, cultural programs, and resource information about China, it tells the true story of a new kind of family emerging in American society.