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Publishers

Courage To Change offers a wide range of books, board games, videos, and other resources that can be used to further self awareness, to aid in therapy, or to be used as tools by mental health professionals.

Courage To Change
PO Box 486
Wilkes-Barres, PA 18703-0486

Guilford Publications specializes in books, videos and materials about frequently encountered mental health problems and effective treatment approaches, bringing well-written, solidly researched work to professionals, academics, and interested general readers. 

PACT Press has developed the nation's most comprehensive reference guide to books on adoption and/or race. In their informed reference guide, you'll find information on more than 1,000 titles. PACT members receive discounted pricing on every order. One hard copy of this reference guide is included with membership. 

4179 Piedmont Avenue, Suite 330
Oakland, CA 94611
510-243-9460 Phone
510-243-9970 Fax
info@pactadopt.org
www.pactadopt.org

Perspectives Press
Publishing company that offers books, articles and factsheets on infertility. They also offer books and workshops on adoption.

PO Box 90318
Indianapolis, IN 46290-0318
317-872-3055
www.perspectivespress.com
ppress@iquest.net

R-Squared Press (Insight:  Open Adoption Resources and Support)
Specializes in open adoption including newsletter for birthparents and books and booklets. Offers resources to develop healthy open adoption relationships.

Tapestry Books
Offers more than 250 books on adoption and fertility. Topics include adopting, learning about infertility and raising children who were adopted.

PO Box 359
Ringoes, NJ 08551
800-765-2367
info@tapestrybooks.com
www.tapestrybooks.com

Magazines

ADDitude Magazine
www.additudemag.com
The nation's first magazine for families with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder provides real-life advice on topics ranging from how to advocate for your child at school to tips for best nutrition and sleep and raising happy, healthy children.

EP (Exceptional Parent) Resources for Sepecial Needs
www.eparent.com
This magazine has a 35-year history of providing information, support, ideas, encouragement & outreach for families of children with disabilities and the professionals who work with them.

Web sites for Creating Lifebooks

 Adoption Lifebook: A Bridge to Your Child's Beginning
Cindy Probst   amazon.com
Provides for international and waiting families a step-by-step guide to creating a lifebook and becoming more comfortable talking to the child about missing or difficult history.

Lifebooks: Creating a Treasure for the Adopted Child
by Beth O'Malley amazon.com
This book will inspire you to begin your child's memory book and then walk you through the process, page by page. Learn what you need to record for your child's needs, both now and in twenty-five years. Personal lifebook stories and full-length examples are included. The book is appropriate for any type of adoption and also for foster care.

Recent Additions
"Click" on the book's cover image to be taken to the Amazon.com site where the book may be ordered; additional descriptions and links may be found in "Recommended Books" below.

Recommended Books
Sorted alphabetically by title

101 Activities for Kids in Tight Spaces:  At the Doctor's Office, on Car, Train and Plane Trips, Home Sick in Bed
by Carol Stock Kranowitz (1995) amazon.com
For exuberant children in small spaces, this resource offers activities that can turn terrible moments into teachable ones. (Ages 3 - 7)

ADHD and Driving
by Dr. J. Marlene Snyder CHADD
AD/HD and Driving is a guide for parents of teen drivers with AD/HD that is available through the nonprofit organization, CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) $17.00 + shipping. Call 800-233-4050 to order.

Adolescent Drug & Alcohol Abuse: How to Spot It, Stop It, and Get Help for
Your Family
by Nikki Babbit
Offers parents clear information, support, and guidance in understanding the disease model of drug abuse, overcoming common family crisis modes, with ways to take care of themselves as they seek help for their child.

Adopting the Hurt Child (Revised Edition): Hope for Families with Special Needs Kids
Gregory C. Keck   amazon.com
Realistically explores the way that hurting children can be healed. This book, recently revised and updated, includes information on foreign adoptions.

Adopting the Older Child
by Claudia L. Jewett
If you have already adopted an older child or are considering doing so, this book is indispensable. Adopting the Older Child describes a child's transition from the honeymoon period through the testing phase and on to the full integration into a family. It gives practical, caring advice on how to handle each situation.

Adoption and Prenatal Alcohol and Drug Exposure
by Richard P. Barth, Madelyn Freunlick, David Brodzinsky (2000) amazon.com
Provides research, practice and policies related to the diagnoses of FASD in children.

Adoption and the Schools: Resources for Parents and Teachers
by Lansing Wood and Nancy Ng (2001) Tapestry Books, 800-765-2367
From tots to teens, school can often be a challenge for the adopted child if educators are not aware of the relation of adoption to diversity, inclusion, language and special education needs. This guide helps parents and teachers make school a better place for the adopted child.

Adoption and Wondering, Drawing out Feelings
Marge Eaton Heegaard   amazon.com
Uses art therapy to help children express complex feelings about being adopted. Interactive exercises help children understand losses and examine identity issues.

Adoption Lifebook: A Bridge to Your Child's Beginnings
Cindy Probst   amazon.com
Provides for international and waiting families a step-by-step guide to creating a lifebook and becoming more comfortable talking to the child about missing or difficult history.

Adoption Nation
by Adam Pertman www.adoptionnation.com
Provides an updated overview of adoption in American. Included are positive findings about open adoption, how international and gay adoptions are changing families, the gaining power of birth parents and why adult adoptees are fighting for their rights.  Using research, interviews, stories and his experience as an adoptive father, Pertman presents a modern view of adoption with its potential for further growth and openness.

Adoption without Fear
by James L. Gritter (1997) amazon.com
Seventeen adopting couples recount their emotion-filled experiences with open adoption ranging from occasional contact to sharing the birth experience. All found that openness gives deeper meaning to the adoption process.

Adoption Reunion Handbook, The
by Liz Trinder, Julie Feast and David Howe (2004) amazon.com
Based on a British comprehensive research study done on search/reunion where adopted persons have had access to their birth record for 25 years. The reader is guided through contemplating outreach; nerves at the first meeting; nuances between birthmother, birthfather and sibling reunion; adoptive family response; dealing with the rare occurrence of rejection and long-term relationship prospects. Each chapter includes a helpful advice box that summarizes key points to consider before contemplating the next step as well as statistics and personal experiences of various research participants.

Adoption Reunion Survival Guide, Preparing Yourself for the Search, Reunion & Beyond
by Julie Jarrell Bailey, N. Lynn Giddens and Annette Baran (2001) amazon.com
Using real-life examples, this compassionate guide helps adoptees and their birth mothers decide whether or not to try to locate each other, prepare for a reunion, survive the emotional turbulence of the initial meeting and avoid common pitfalls. Since the legal issues surrounding the process can vary greatly from one state to another, the book includes an overview of pertinent laws, along with practical suggestions for navigating through them.

After the Morning Calm: Reflections of Korean Adoptees
by Dr. Sook Wilkinson and Nancy Fox (2002) amazon.com
This collection of stories written by Korean adoptees is a rare glimpse into the world of the children, now adults, who have searched for birthparents in their country of origin.

All About Adoption: How Families are Made
by Marc Nemiroff and Jane Annunziata amazon.com
Explores the different feelings children can experience as they grow up. It discusses the challenges that parents face from time to time and the expected emotions they can expect from adopted children. (Ages 4 - 12)

All About Me
by Lynn Burwash and Cie McMullin amazon.com
Written by two adoptive mothers, this simple, direct children's book was designed to be an invaluable tool for younger children to understand the meaning of being adopted. Children can participate in the story by drawing and filling in the blanks, over and over again, using their own washable crayons and markers. It provides the opportunity for parents and children to have open, frank, and meaningful conversations about adoption. (Ages 1 - 8)

Ambiguous Loss: Learning to Live with Unresolved Grief
Pauline Boss   amazon.com
Highly recommended for adoptive and foster families to understand and address the grief experienced by children who have lost their birth families.

Anne of Green Gables
by Lucy Maud Montgomery amazon.com
When Marilla Cuthbert's brother, Matthew, returns home to Green Gables with a chatty redheaded orphan girl, Marilla exclaims, "But we asked for a boy. We have no use for a girl." It's not long, though, before the Cuthberts can't imagine how they could ever do without young Anne of Green Gables--but not for the original reasons they sought an orphan. Somewhere between the time Anne "confesses" to losing Marilla's amethyst pin (which she never took) in hopes of being allowed to go to a picnic, and when Anne accidentally dyes her hated carrot-red hair green, Marilla says to Matthew, "One thing's for certain, no house that Anne's in will ever be dull."

Answers to Questions Teachers Ask About Sensory Integration
by Carol Stock Kranowitz amazon.com
Gives forms, checklists and answers to teachers about teaching children diagnosed with Sensory Integration Dysfunction.

Attaching in Adoption: Practical Tools for Today's Parents
by Deborah D. Gray amazon.com
Offers advice on obtaining a proper diagnosis; building a caring professional team; using various approaches to parenting and teaching; and finding a therapist who is adequately informed, prepared and experienced.

Attachment, Trauma, and Healing: Understanding and Treating Attachment Disorder in Children and Families
By Terry M. Levy amazon.com
Examines the causes of attachment disorder and provides an in-depth discussion of effective treatments including attachment-focused assessment and diagnosis; specialized training and education for caregivers; treatments that facilitate secure attachment; and early intervention and prevention programs for high-risk families.

[The] Baby Thief
Barbara Bisantz Raymond   amazon.com
Raymond’s heavily researched account is of Georgia Tann, a notorious woman who profited by arranging over 5000 adoptions between 1924 and 1950, many involving children she had kidnapped. To cover her crimes, Tann instituted practices accepted today including sealed and doctored birth records.

Bad Mothers: The Politics of Blame in Twentieth-Century America
Molly Ladd-Taylor and Lauri Umansky   amazon.com
Examines how mothers today are blamed for a host of problems. Drawing together the work of prominent scholars, journalists, and individual cases, the book marks an important contribution to the literature on motherhood.

[The] Bean Trees
Barbara Kingsolver   amazon.com
... follows a young woman who unexpectedly becomes a mother to a Cherokee baby. A theme of loving, caring people who aren’t related, but that you consider as “family,” drifts through this novel.

Being a Birthparent: Finding our Place
by Brenda Romanchik (1999) amazon.com
Open adoption has taken birthparents out of the closet and into the normal, everyday lives of adoptive families. What does it mean to be a birthparent in an open adoption? How has this experience changed us and how does it effect the other parts of our lives? These are just some of the questions answered in this enlightening guide.

Being Adopted: The Lifelong Search for Self
David Brodzinsky, Marshall Schechter and Robin Marantz Henig   amazon.com
Use researched-based findings to address the hurdles that adoptees must manage throughout the life span.

Beneath the Mask: Understanding Adopted Teens
by Debbie Riley and John Meeks, MD (2005) amazon.com
Provides specific, concrete suggestions for dealing with issues like rejection, depression, secrecy and identity confusion.

The Best I Can Be: Living with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome - Effects
by Jodee Kulp and Liz Kulp amazon.com
Liz Kulp, a teenage adoptee who was born with fetal alcohol syndrome/effects co-writes with her mom about her life journey.

Beyond Good Intentions: A Mother Reflects on Raising Internationally Adopted Children
Cheri Register   amazon.com
Calls attention to ten choices well-meaning parents make that turn out not to serve their children''s needs as well as one might expect. She calls for a frank and intimate conversation about the distinct challenges of raising children adopted across national, cultural, and, often, racial boundaries.

Beyond Logic, Consequences and Control: A Love Based Approach to Helping Attachment-Challenged Children With Severe Behaviors
Heather T. Forbes, LCSW and B. Bryan Post, PhD, LCSW   amazon.com
Provides a new perspective on understanding severe behaviors and offers a step-by-step method for addressing those behaviors in your own children.

Birthbond: Reunions Between Birthparents and Adoptees: What Happens After
by Judith S. Gediman and Linda P. Brown (1989) amazon.com
What happens when birth parents and the children that they've placed for adoption meet? The authors of Birthbond conducted intensive interviews with 30 birthmothers who had successfully searched or been found. In addition, they talked with adoptees, members of the birth family, adoptive parents, adoption professionals and others involved with adoption in order to discover the impact of reunions on the lives of all who may be affected by adoption reunions.

Birthmarks: Transracial Adoption in Contemporary America
by Sandra Patton amazon.com
Explores the complexities of transracial adoption, revealing how multiracial families face perplexing questions about the social, biological and cultural meaning of identity.

Birthparent Grief
by Brenda Romanchik (1999) amazon.com
Placing a child for adoption is a huge loss that few understand. Ms. Romanchik, a birthmother, takes the mystery out of the experience by helping birthparents define the loss and understand the grieving process. Not only for birthparents, this is a great book for anyone who wants to help a birthparent through a very difficult time.

A Birthparent's Book of Memories
by Brenda Romanchik amazon.com
This book, suitable for either birthmothers or birthfathers to fill out, makes a keepsake for the child that will be treasured forever. The book begins with room to describe the birthparent's childhood, family, friends and family traditions. Next comes a section about the decision to make an adoption plan. Finally, there is room to recount memorable moments with the child as he or she grows. This book makes a special gift from the adoptive parents to their child's birthparent who can then present it to the child.

Black Baby White Hands: A View from the Crib
by Jaiya John (2002) amazon.com
This autobiographical account by the first African American baby adopted by a white family in New Mexico provides a roadmap for families undertaking the same journey.

Blending In: Crisscrossing the Lines of Race, Religion, Family and Adoption
by Barbara Ann Gowan (2007) amazon.com
Where do I belong? Barbara Gowan sought to answer this question as she searched for the real meaning of family. The product of an interracial relationship in the 1960s, she lived in foster care before her adoption by loving-and complex-parents. In this candid account, she faces her long-standing inner conflicts with race, religion, and identity as she searches for her birth parents and her life's purpose.

Borya and the Burps!
by Joan McNamara amazon.com
An Eastern European Adoption story of a boy adopted from Eastern Europe who has the talent of producing magnificent burps. This whimsical touch takes the reader through the challenges of leaving an orphanage to join new parents, reflecting the sensory changes in Borya's life.

 [The] Boy who was Raised as a Dog
Dr. Bruce Perry and Maia Szalavitz   amazon.com
Uses the lens of science to reveal the brain’s astonishing capacity for healing. Combining case histories with compassionate, insightful strategies for rehabilitation, the authors explains the impact to the brain when a child is exposed to extreme stress-and reveals the unexpected measures that can be taken to ease a child''s pain and help him grow into a healthy adult.

The Bully, the Bullied, and the Bystander: From Preschool to High School - How Parents and Teachers Can Help Break the Cycle of Violence
by Barbara Colorosa
Provides a constructive alternative to zero tolerance, transforming the school climate, using art to transform bullies and other creative solutions to the problem of bullying.

[I Know Why the ] Caged Bird Sings
Maya Angelou   amazon.com
... is the extraordinary non-fiction account of the author’s teen years as she fights to survive sexual, racial, and gender abuse. A near orphan, she is shuttled between people and places, finally finding unexpected peace in realizing the many gifts and talents she possesses.

Caring for Children with FAS: A Handbook for Caregivers
by Jean Cornish, was written for MHSA. Call 651-224-8967 or write HSA, 336 North Robert Street, Suite 1520, St. Paul, MN 55101.

The Challenge of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: Overcoming Secondary Disabilities
edited by Dr. Ann Streissguth
Includes expert opinions from fields of human services, education, and criminal justice on community and individual solutions regarding FASD.

Challenging Behavior in Young Children: Understanding, Preventing, and Responding Effectively
by Barbara Kaiser (2002) amazon.com
Covers the risk factors (genetic and environment) in children, offers self-help and strategies in parenting children who have behavioral problems. 

Child's Journey Through Placement [A]
by Vera I. Fahlberg, M.D.
For some children, being in placement is only a brief stop on the way to being reunited with their parents or placed with an adoptive family. Others may wander in and out of foster care, mental health facilities, and juvenile justice programs throughout their childhood. These are the children, victims of broken attachments, who are at greatest risk for sociopathic behavior as adults. This book provides the foundation, resources, and tools to help professionals and parents support these children on their way to adulthood.

Children of Open Adoption and Their Familiess
by Kathleen Silber and Patricia Martinez Dorner (1990) amazon.com
Two pioneers in open adoption explore the effect of open adoption on children by recounting many experiences and field research. Chapters cover the developmental stages of children growing up in open adoptions.

Children and Trauma Handbook: A Guide for Parents and Professionals
Cynthia Monahon   amazon.com
Offers a blueprint for restoring a traumatized child’s sense of balance and safety.

Children of Trauma: Stressful Life Events and Their Effects on Children and Adolescents
Thomas W. Miller   amazon.com
Intended for professionals working with children and adolescents. Twenty contributors examine stress responses and adaptation in children, child sexual abuse accommodation syndrome, family violence, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), teenage pregnancy, adolescent suicidal behavior, substance abuse during adolescence, and peer victimization trauma.

Children's Adjustment to Adoption: Developmental and Clinical Issues (Developmental Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry) (Paperback)
Anne B. Brodzinsky, Daniel W. Smith, David M. Brodzinsky   amazon.com
Discusses the psychological adjustment of children in adoption over the course of childhood and adolescence. The authors combine theory and research using clinical examples, closing with a discussion of intervention and assessment methods that commonly arise in adoption.

Child Trauma Handbook: A Guide for Helping Trauma-Exposed Children and Adolescents
Ricky Greenwald   amazon.com
This is a best selling practical guide to trauma-informed therapy that includes exercises, case studies and handouts in an instructor’s manual with an accompanying CD.

Choices and Consequences: What to Do When a Teenager Uses Alcohol/Drugs
by Dick Schafer
Written for parents and professionals, outlining a step-by-step intervention system to avert teen involvement with alcohol and other drugs.

Connecting with Kids Through Stories: Using Narratives to Facilitate Attachment in Adopted Children
by Denise Lacher, Todd Nichols, Joanne May of the Family Attachment Center of Minnesota in Deephaven. (2005) amazon.com
Helps families who have children diagnosed with Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) to connect, using a narrative technique. Based on theoretical grounding, the book gives detailed information on this technique including ways to access progress.

[A] Conversation 10 Years Later
DVD Source:   www.photosynthesisproductions.com/store.cfm
is the sequel to “Struggle for Identity: Issues in Transracial Adoption,” the definitive training video used in nationwide trainings to inform adoptive and foster parents about the needs of their children of a different race or ethnicity. John Raible and Michelle Johnson from the original cast return to explore issues of racism, the visible and public nature of transracial adoption, loyalty and attachment, transracialization and creating multicultural families, as seen through the lens of their personal experience and professional training. Available through the New York State Citizens'' Coalition for Children, Inc., and PhotoSynthesis Productions.

Dangerous Drugs
by Carol Falkowski of Hazelden Alcohol and Drug Rehabilitation Center
provides an easy to use reference for parents and professionals with straightforward information on a full range of drugs of abuse, legal and illegal.

Dear Birthmother
by Kathleen Silber amazon.com
This classic book that for many people began their open adoption has been updated to reflect current practices. It provides specific and practical suggestions about beginning and maintaining an open adoption. It also contains actual letters written between adoptive families and birthparents.

The Defiant Child: A Parent's Guide to Oppositional Defiant Disorder
by Douglas A. Riley amazon.com
For the 1 in 20 children who are diagnosed with ODD, Riley offers understanding of when defiance becomes a problem and how it can be resolved.

Delivered from Distraction: Getting the Most out of Life with Attention
Edward M. Hallowell and John J Ratey   amazon.com
Suggests playing to the traits that accompany AD/HD. creativity, charisma, intelligence, and energy. surrounding the child with people who promote these positive traits. The book highlights coping skills applicable from childhood through adulthood.

Designing Rituals of Adoption for the Religious and Secular Community
by Mary Martin Mason amazon.com
In its second printing, this book guides through celebration, grief, finalizations, relinquishment with attention given to the child in marking the important rite of passage called adoption.

Dim Sum, Bagels and Grits: A Sourcebook for Multicultural Families
by Myra Alperson amazon.com
Reveals personal as well as professional insights into such topics as combining cultures, confronting prejudice, developing role models and locating multicultural resources.

DIRTY: A Search for Answers inside America's Teenage Drug Epidemic
by Marian Maran
Gives insights about why teenagers use drugs with constructive suggestions on what parents and professionals can do.  This book includes alternatives when youth don't respond to traditional interventions and treatment.

Distant Drums, Different Drummers: A Guide for Young People with AD/HD
Barbara D. Ingersoll   amazon.com
This book de-stigmatizes the differences that youth feel and presents a positive side of AD/HD including boundless energy and creativity. (12 and older.)

Disturbing the Peace
by Nancy Newman (2002) amazon.com
This fictionalized account of a search does not tie the reunion into a neat package, but intersperses romance between the main character's search for her roots.

Driven to Distraction
by Edward M. Hallowell, MD and John J. Ratey amazon.com
Offers recognition of ADHD and coping skills applicable from childhood through adulthood.

Eden's Secret Journal: The Story of an Older Child Adoption
by Brenda McCreight, Ph.D.
Begins with 13-year-old Eden writing, “My name is Eden and I am 13 ½ years old. I am writing this story about me because my therapist said I should. She said if I write down all about my life then maybe I will understand it better. I don't know if that is true, but I might as well.”  Available through Adoption Press 888-490-4600

Eukee the Jumpy, Jumpy Elephant
by Cliff Corman, MD and Esther Trevino amazon.com
This children's book (ages 3-8) is a story about a bright young elephant who is not like all the other elephants.  Eukee moves through the jungle unable to pay attention like the other elephants.  He begins to feel sad, but gets help after a visit to the doctor who explains why Eukee is so jumpy and hyperactive.

Everything is Normal until Proven Otherwise
Karl Dennis and Ira Lourie   amazon.com
Describing for professionals the benefit of wrap-around services, the authors reveal the power of strengths-based approaches in working with children and families. Based on the Chicago social service agency, Kaleidoscope, the book includes case histories and a guide to providing similar services.

The Explosive Child
by Ross W. Greene, PhD  amazon.com
Helps parents regain control by revamping award and punishment techniques that don't work; helping children solve problems and calm down; and create a less hostile environment.

The Face in the Mirror
by Marion Cook amazon.com
Based on multiple interviews, The Face In the Mirror reveals the thoughts of adopted teens, adoptive parents and birthparents to the question of teens wanting to know their birth history and birth family. The frank discussion helps adopted teens in the struggle to discover their identity and a sense of belonging. For teens and older.

Facilitating Developmental Attachment: The Road to Emotional Recovery and Behavioral Change is Foster and Adopted Children
by Daniel A. Hughes  amazon.com 
Provides comprehensive understanding as well as interventions, solving the mystery of how to reach children who seem unreachable.

Faint Trails: A Guide to Adult Adoptee - Birthparent Reunification
by Hal Aigner (1987) amazon.com
Although somewhat dated, the techniques employed in adoptee-birth parent reunification searches are those of the private detective, with particular emphasis on researching public records, including vital statistics indexes, court documents, professional association membership directories and numerous other sources of the personal details needed to ascertain an individual's identity or location. Faint Trails summarizes the ways and means of search availability, focusing on the more frequently taken opportunities for public records research abounding in general and genealogical libraries, as well as federal, state, county and municipal archives.

Families Change: A Book for Children Experiencing Termination of Parental Rights
Julie Nelson, illustrated by Mary Gallagher   amazon.com
Offers caregivers and professionals help children sort through the conflicting emotions that arise in children when their birth families can no longer care for them.

Family Matters: Secrecy and Disclosure in the History of Adoption
E. Wayne Carp   amazon.com
A researcher’s view of how secrecy and disclosure have become the defining issues in American adoption.

The Family of Adoption
by Joyce Maguire Pavao amazon.com
Reveals the complexities of adoption with some practical information about predictable, understandable developmental stages for adopted people. Pavao describes the grief processes, dilemmas, and potentials for healing of birth mothers and adoptive parents. A strong advocate for adopted children, she discusses the difference between secrecy and privacy--a crucial distinction in adoption--and lends a strong voice to the movement for openness.

Fantastic Antone Series
by Judith Kleinfeld, Barbara Morse & Siobhan Wescott amazon.com
A field guide to life for parents and children through young adults with fetal alcohol syndrome/effects.

Fathers, Mothers, Sisters, Brothers: A Collection of Family Poems
Mary Ann Hoberman (Author), Marylin Hafner (Illustrator)   amazon.com
provides a child’s poetic reflections on family gatherings, sibling relations and feelings about adoption and other family matters.

First Star I See
J.A. Caffrey   amazon.com
In this story, Paige, an imaginative, witty young girl with AD/HD plans to earn an interview with astronaut, Kelsey Strongheart. (Grades 6-8)

Filling in the Blanks: A Guided Look at Growing Up Adopted
by Susan Gabel. M.Ed amazon.com
Both a lifebook and workbook, Filling in the Blanks can be a tool for older children and adolescents to explore their adoptions. Four sections include: My Birth Family, My Adoption Process, My Adoptive Family, Myself. Sections contain text, definitions, fill-in-the-blanks and places for pictures.

Forever Fingerprints: An Amazing Discovery for Adopted Children
Sherrie Eldridge   amazon.com
Explores the idea of how fingerprints are a tangible gift from her birth family, provoking some honest conversations about adoption. A relative’s pregnancy provokes a discussion of birth parents, where adopted children are before they are born, and how that makes one little girl feel about it. Lucie is excited to feel a baby moving in her Aunt Grace’s tummy but it makes her think of how she understands her adoption story in a different way. The tools offered in this book help her to create a unique connection to her birthparents and give Lucie’s parents the chance to reinforce their love for her, to empathize with her feelings and to honor her past.

Get out of My Life, but First, Could You Drive Me and Cheryl to the Mall?
by Anthony E. Wolf
Guides the parents of adolescents in many areas including drugs and drinking, communication, trust and conflict.

The Gift of AD/HD: How to Transform your Child's Problems into Strengths
Lara Honos-Webb   amazon.com
The book presents new clinical findings that powerful imagination, insights and intuition accompanies the diagnosis of AD/HD. This new approach and way of thinking about AD/HD transforms symptoms into strengths.

Gift of Myself
Brenda Romanchik/Illustrated by Nicole Lundy   adoptionshop.com
This colorful fill-in-the-blanks book is the perfect gift for a child to give to birthparents, grandparents and other special people in their lives. Sections include A Day in the Life of Me, Wishes and Dreams, A Few Extra Thoughts About You!, and much more... Of course there are plenty of pages to draw or place pictures. You can also give a special child your life the book for your birthday or holiday, and ask them to fill it out as a gift for you! Paperback, 40 pages.

[The] Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe v. Wade
Ann Fessler   amazon.com
recounts hundreds of women telling of their relinquishments of children, spanning three decades and revealing a social climate that allowed no choice but adoption.

The Grief Recovery Handbook
by John W James and Russell Friedman
Provides an action program for moving beyond death, divorce and other losses.

Happy Adoption Day
by John McCutcheon amazon.com
Based on lyrics to a song: "For out of a world so tattered and torn, You came to our house on that wonderful morn." The book portrays a couple who leave their home, fly across the ocean, and return with a baby. Young listeners will spot the same tot three years later surrounded by family and friends at his adoption day party. The music, which can be heard on the recording Family Garden, is appended. 

Healing ADD: The Breakthrough Program that allows You to See and Heal the Six Types of ADD
Dr. Daniel G. Amen   amazon.com
The book presents new clinical findings that powerful imagination, insights and intuition accompanies the diagnosis of AD/HD. This new approach and way of thinking about AD/HD transforms symptoms into strengths.

Helping Children Cope with Separation and Loss
by Claudia L. Jewett-Jarratt
All adopted children have suffered a loss—the loss of their birthparents. Some have also been separated from one or more foster parents. Helping Children Cope with Separation and Loss contains compassionate, step-by-step guidance for any concerned adult who wants to help a child talk about, cope with, and recover from a loss. It offers warm advice, specific techniques, and innovative ideas for helping children overcome the sadness, anger, and anxiety they feel during a difficult time.

Helping People with Developmental Disabilities Mourn: Practical Rituals for Caregivers
Marc A. Markell and Alan D. Wolfelt   amazon.com
This book offers rituals and practices to address grieving in families where the children have special needs.

Helping Your Chemically Dependent Teenager Recover: A Guide for Parents and Other Concerned Adults
by Dr. Peter Cohen
Outlines four stages of recovery and details problems faced by both teens and parents at each stage with advice about how and when to seek professional help. The author discusses how parents can take care of their own needs without feeling guilty.

Holes
Louis Sachar   amazon.com
is an adventure tale that takes place at a juvenile detention center where boys must dig holes in a dried lakebed. The main character, Stanley, overcomes his problems, both those created inside of him and the ones imposed upon him at Camp Green Lake to emerge as a happy, confident young man. (Ages 7-12)

How It Feels to be Adopted
by Jill Krementz amazon.com
A classic in which adopted children explain their personal view of adoption in a rich variety of experiences. Middlers and teens give their stories. 

How to Find Almost Anyone Anywhere
by Norma Mott Tillman (1998) amazon.com
The private investigator author provides internet clues that have helped her locate over 1,000 persons.

How to Locate Anyone Who Is Or Has Been In The Military
by Lt. Col. Richard S. Johnson (1999) amazon.com
Accounts how to use military records in adoption search and reunion.

How to Open an Adoption: A Guide for Parents and Birthparents of Minors
by Patricia Martinez Dorner (1997) amazon.com
This guide helps families in the step by step process of opening up a confidential adoption, examining the emotional issues for all involved. Both birth and adoption parents are given guidance as is the child.

How to Reach and Teach Teenagers with ADHD
by Grad L. Flick, PhD amazon.com
Comprehensive resource for therapeutic interventions, medications, behavior modification and preparation for adulthood.

Identical Strangers
Paula Bernstein and Elyse Schein   amazon.com
Identical Strangers offers dual authors, Paula Bernstein and Elyse Schein, telling their remarkable story of being adopted as twin infants by different families. The book recounts in alternating voices how Paula and Elyse learn that the purposeful separation of them as twins was a part of a social and secret study. The authors weave studies and statistics on twin science throughout their story.

I Love You Like Crazy Cakes
by Rose Lewis amazon.com
Based on the author's experiences, this children's book follows a single woman on her journey to adopt a baby girl from China. Chronicles the baby's trip from a shared crib in an orphanage to her own crib in her own room in her new home. (Ages 4 - 8)

Inside Transracial Adoption
by Beth Hall and Gail Steinberg (2000) amazon.com
Offers real solutions to real challenges, reinforcing the message that race matters, racism is alive, and transracial families can develop strong and binding ties. The authors rely on a careful blend of academic research, social reality, and personal experience to create pro-active, provocative guidance both for veterans and for prospective parents who are considering transracial adoption.

Is That Your Sister?
by Catherine and Sherry Bunin amazon.com
As a member of a multiracial family, Catherine is often asked questions about her family. Many of the questions center on her sister's physical appearance. Catherine talks about these questions and how she has answered them; offering a guide for the child who is beginning to ask, and be asked, questions about adoption. (Ages 2 - 10)

Ithaka - A Daughter's Memoir of Being Found
by Sarah Saffian (1999) amazon.com
One phone call, wholly unexpected, instantly turned Sarah Saffian's world upside down, threatening her sense of family, identity, and self. Adopted as an infant 23 years before, living happily in New York, Sarah had been "found" by her biological parents despite her reluctance to embrace them. In this searing memoir, she chronicles her painful journey from confusion and anger to acceptance, and finally reunion - but not until three soul-searching years had passed. In luminous prose, Sarah Saffian crafts a radiantly powerful story of self-discovery and belonging, a deeply personal memoir told with grace, eloquence, and compassion. At once heartbreaking and profoundly uplifting, Ithaka is sure to touch anyone who has grappled with who they are.

It's All Good Hair: The Guide to Styling and Grooming Black Children's Hair
Michele N-K Collison   amazon.com
Fun and attractive styles for boys and girls along with useful tips on grooming

The Jonathan Letters: One Family's Use of Support
Michael Trout and Lori Thomas   amazon.com
Recommended reading for parents of children diagnosed with Reactive Attachment Disorder. The format is an exchange of letters between a foster/adoptive parent and a clinician, revealing how the family comes to understand their son''s raging against what he most wanted.

"Keeping your Kids Drug-Free"
from National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign
Printed by Office of National Drug Control Policy; FREE BOOKLET call 1-800-788-2800

Kids are worth it! Giving Your Child the Gift of Inner Discipline
by Barbara Colorosa
Delivers the message that good parenting begins with treating kids with dignity and respect. Rejecting the "quick fix" solutions of punishment and reward, the author uses everyday family situations-from sibling rivalry to teenage rebellion-to demonstrate sound strategies for giving children the inner discipline & self confidence that will help them grow into responsible, resourceful, resilient & compassionate adults.

Kimchi and Calamari
Rose Kent   amazon.com
In this fictional novel, 14-year-old Korean adoptee Joseph Calderaro is stumped when his social studies teacher assigns an ancestry essay. Joseph knows very little about his birth family, so he pretends that Olympic marathoner Sohn Kee Chung was his grandfather, creating an award-winning essay. Once his lie is unmasked, Joseph must redo the assignment, prompting him to begin search for his birth family. Kent's debut novel humorously captures the feelings of a young teen who thoroughly enjoys his Italian-American family but still wonders about his birth parents and the circumstances that led to his adoption.

King of the Wind
Marguerite Henry   amazon.com
is a classic story of Sham, an Arabian horse that is treated cruelly by