Yesterday was National Adoption Day, so I wanted to do a feature on characters and stories that feature adoption and foster care. The books featured here are mostly middle grade.
One for the Murphys
By the author of beloved novel Fish in a Tree, Lynda Mullaly Hunt presents a story about foster child Carley who is used to being on her own. She is also used to not letting people get close to her, she uses humor and her street smarts to deflect anyone to tries to break through her high emotional walls. After all, when your mother forgets about you, you don’t want to let anyone close.
But when she finds herself placed in a foster home with the Murphys her world is turned upside down. The Murphys are a huge, loving family that introduce Carley to a stable family life she never imagined having, and she eventually settles into the feeling of belonging that the Murphys offer, until her mother wants her back.
She may not be a Murphy, but after what she’s learned with the Murphys, just going back to her mother doesn’t feel right either. What will Carley decide and how will she shape her new future?
Counting by 7s
This book is important because it is about two adoptive families. Willow Chance is a tweleve-year-old, prodigy. I personally believe she has autism, but the author leaves it open to interpretation. Willows’s special interests include nature and diagnosing medical conditions. She also finds comfort in counting by 7s. She always had trouble connecting with people except for her adoptive parents, but when she loses them in a car crash. Willow finds herself lost in a world she doesn’t understand.
However Willow ends up finding a wonderful new surrogate family, that needs her as much as she needs them.
Forever, or a Long, Long Time
From rising star Caela Carter, author of My Life with the Liars, comes a story about two siblings who are trying to find how they fit into the world. Flora and Julian don’t believe they were born, they have many other theories, such as arriving from the ocean or from birds. But they’ve been in so many foster homes, they can’t seem to remember much about their pasts.
Even now that they are adopted, everything still feels temporary, and they worry every move they make will land them back in foster care. But after some secrets their adoptive mother has been keeping are revealed, they start to explore their pasts, so they can understand their futures.
Amazon: Forever or a Long Long Time Ago
Did I miss any of your favorites? I seemed to find there are more children/picture books featuring adoption than MG books. I wonder why that is?