cover image Born in Our Hearts: Stories of Adoption

Born in Our Hearts: Stories of Adoption

Filis Casey. Health Communications, $11.95 (216pp) ISBN 978-0-7573-0129-2

In the spirit of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, the Caseys, a mother and daughter who were brought together by adoption, collect brief essays by parents who have adopted, by children who have been adopted and even by parents who were adopted and then adopted children of their own. For the Caseys (as well as for the rest of the contributors to this volume), the joys of adopting far outweigh the inconveniences of red tape and paperwork that the process usually entails. The pieces in this book celebrate those joys, as parents relate typical stories of the happiness children bring, as well as adoption-specific stories telling of the mixing of cultures that often takes place when a child from a different country is brought up in an American household. Many of the adopted children in this book come from China, Russia and South America, and a good number of stories will ring familiar bells with parents who've traveled to a faraway place to collect a child they have not yet met. While overwhelmingly upbeat, the essays do address the difficulties some families face regarding adoption, exploring common children's questions of""Where do I fit in?"" and""Why was I given up for adoption?"" Though informal and somewhat cliched, these stories are nonetheless heartfelt and may be enjoyed by anyone affected by adoption.