2010 Adoption Book and Film Discussion GroupFeatured Books and Films

Adopted
directed by Barb Lee, co-produced with Nancy Kim Parsons
We Can Do Better
directed by Barb Lee, written by Catherine Wigginton Greene, co-produced with Catherine Wigginton Greene and Nancy Kim Parsons
Filmmakers Barb Lee and Nancy Kim Parsons (Korean adoptees themselves) present us with the gripping story of two adoptive families at opposite ends of the adoption experience: Jacqi and John in the process of meeting their adopted baby and Jen, a Korean adoptee, facing her parents terminal illness. Jen Fero, the adopted adult who courageously allows viewers into her family as she explores her own experience of adoption with her parents and brother, is the hero of the film, very articulate, she helps us understand the complexity of adoption. Adopted is distributed as a two-DVD set with We Can Do Better, a companion film designed for training purposes that intersperses the firsthand experiences of parents and adopted adults with child welfare professionals talking about some of the challenges inherent to transracial and transnational adoption. Each of the five sections is between 20 and 35 minutes long, and conveniently divided into topics for trainers and parents: Intentions, Parenting the Adopted Child, The Mulitracial Family, Identity for the Transracial Adoptee ļæ1/2and Tough Questions. Beth Hall, Pact's Director, and Lisa Marie Rollins, Pact's former Adoption Education Specialist, appear as speakers in We Can Do Better. We admit our bias, but we really believe this two-part video is a valuable and important contribution to the field. It's not always easy viewing, but it's an honest and poignant look at the many layers of adoption, and the ways that we can do better.

Birthright
by Jean Strauss
$21.00
A Guide to Search and Reunion for Adoptees, Birthparents and Adoptive Parents This book is filled with storiesā026direct quotes from adoptive parents, birth parents, and adopted people who have experienced search and reunion. Includes guidelines for beginning a search.

Pact says: Jean is a great writer and this is a good overview of what to expect and how to handle both the emotional and logistical steps that are often involved.

Caucasia
by Danzy Senna
$14.00
Explores the internal cultural tug of war of a multiracial family. When their family breaks up, Birdie's Black father and sister move to Brazil to find racial equality, while Birdie and her white mother take on new identities and move to a small New Hampshire town where Birdie passes for white. Birdie tries to fit in but struggles to find a way to make both her white and black heritage to count. Her search for her sister leads to a search for her own identity.

Pact says: This is a well written book about the struggle for racial identity that multiracial youth face, particularly highlighting the differences between growing up with a strong African American influence versus living in a predominantly white environment.

Daddy & Papa
Directed by Johnny Symons
$19.95
DADDY & PAPA explores the growing phenomenon of gay fatherhood in the ever-changing landscape of the American family. This intimate and compelling film delves into challenges such as surrogacy, foster care, interracial adoption, gay marriage and divorce, and the battle for full legal status as parents.

How It Feels To Be Adopted
by Jill Krementz
$16.00
Nineteen kids from diverse backgrounds confide their feelings.

Pact says: This classic is still the best book we've found explaining a variety of children's perspectives of how it feels to be adopted. The inclusion of photographs brings a greater sense of immediacy and realism to the text and help children to identify with others who share their experiences. Required reading for Pact clients.

I Wish For You A Beautiful Life
by Sharon Mathis
$18.95
This collection of letters from birth mothers from the Ae Ran Won agency in Korea gives voices not often heard a chance to articulate their innermost emotions at the time of placement of their children for adoption. Hope that the children will have a positive life, sadness over personal losses, love for the children, and a level of guilt that sheds new light on what it is like to be a birth mother in Korea.

Pact says: This book is not intended for children.

Las Hijas
Directed by Maria Quiroga
$24.00
A documentary about three young women who were adopted from Colombia as infants. Raised in the New York City/New Jersey area by white parents, they seek to establish their sense of identity first as children and then as adults.

Pact says: This is a great film that will give viewers an insider view to the candid experiences of three different women who begin their search for self in isolation but eventually find one another and a whole community of belonging.

Lucky Girl
by Mei-Long Hopgood
$23.95
A beautifully written memoir about Hopgood's unexpected reunion with her birth family in China at the age of 23, details the slow evolution of their relationship over the next ten years and her deepening understanding her family's personal history. Hopgood is able to eloquently articulate the complexities of reunion and her own gradual understanding of what was gained, and what was lost, in her adoption.

Parents Wanted
by George Harrar
$6.95
Andy is twelve years old and was removed from his parents several years before. He meets a couple at his 5th adoption party who he chooses to adopt him and they do. Parents Wanted chronicles Andy's experience as he moves in with Laurie and Jeff and eventually becomes their son. It includes very telling passages as he copes with loyalty issues regarding his birth parents, ADD, shame about being adopted and his fear that he will be rejected and lose another family and have to return to the group home.

Pact says: What is wonderful about this book is that it is written from a twelve-year-old's voice giving kids and parents alike a window into how a kid who has been through several placements and group homes views the world and the actions of the adults who are SUPPOSED to be caring for him. Really insightful.