All reviewed books are available in our branch offices or in our online store.
Making Sense of Adoption by Lois Ruskai Melina – An excellent, easy to read book on adoption issues. This book helps parents anticipate and respond to children’s concerns in ways that build self-esteem. It walks you though questions that relate to different stages of child development from toddler to adolescence. Retail Price: $13.00 AFTH Price: $11.00
Communicating With The Adopted Child by Miriam Komar- The greatest challenge of all parents is to instill a positive self-image in their child. Komar forcefully argues that most people want to be ordinary and to blend into their environment. Thus, the usual attempt to attach special status to the adoptee is counter-productive. Her instructive comments on real-life situations, based on extensive interviewing of many adoptive families, provide guidelines and support. She is particularly reassuring when addressing the troubling questions regarding timing and techniques for imparting information about their past to adopted children and stresses the importance of recognizing a child’s legitimate concerns about his or her origins. AFTH Price: $20
Hate Hurts: How Children Learn and Unlearn Prejudice by Caryl Stern-LaRosa & Ellen Hofheimer Bettmann – In simple easy to understand text, this book gives good advice on how best to teach children what it means to be a citizen in a diverse society, one where people of different races, religions, nationalities, ethnicity, age, sexual orientations, looks and customs all participate equally but where, a good deal of prejudice and misunderstanding still exist. The authors offer insights and suggestions that are always practical, though not always obvious. What’s more, part of the proceeds go towards efforts by the Anti-Defamation League to eradicate prejudice. AFTH price $10.00
Being Adopted- The Lifelong Search for Self by David M Brodzinsky, Marshall Schechter, & Robin Marantz Henig – This book gives a balanced view of the gains and losses an adopted child. It is an excellent book for prospective adoptive parents, who may be thinking that by simply giving their child all the love they have that their child will not feel the need to know his or her birth heritage, which is usually not the case. For the birthparents, this book underlines what a child can gain from being adopted, and why a child’s genetic heritage will remain an important part of them. For adoptees this book is the most valuable, because it helps them to realize that their feelings are shared, and that they are not alone in their feelings. AFTH Price $12
