Giving Away Simone

Freelance writer Waldron's poignant memoir, rich in vivid portraits of her divorced parents and her Boston childhood, recounts that in 1969, as an unwed 17-year-old mother, she gave up her baby-to her art teacher and his wife. Later, still unmarried, she and her lover had two sons. Then Waldron relates her reunion with 11-year-old Rebecca (whom she named Simone at birth) and their visits, ``labor pains all over again''; not until her daughter's adulthood did the two reach a loving acceptance of each other. Waldron, whose own mother was raised by adoptive parents, argues that adoption stories are often biased against the birth mother. She provides insight into the problems involved for the ``children of trauma'' and their natural and adoptive parents. Author tour. (Feb.)