Showing titles in Adoption & Fostering

Another day in paradise dawns as the small tribe prepares to welcome a young child into their communal family. But after Kaimi hears a soft message from her soul, she must make a difficult life-changing decision: can she give her younger sister, Maka, the baby she truly desires? And how will she deal with the grief and loss of handing over her own child? With authenticity and solitude as her guides, Kaimi trusts even deeper and begins to see that this adoption is really a gateway to higher spiritual growth.

Modern families come together in all sorts of ways—one parent, two parents; same sex, opposite sex; planned, unplanned; biological, adopted. There are examples of different sorts of families all around us. Finding Mac tells the story of how one family came together, as Richard and his wife Swee welcome eight-year-old Mac into their lives. It recounts the highs and lows as they get to know and love each other becoming a successful family unit. Along the way it shares their experience of adoption, and particularly the experience of adopting an older child.

Families are the foundation of society. When we care for and protect children, we ensure that future generations thrive as well. The devastation that abuse and neglect cause have taught us the immense impact—good and bad—that parents have on children. This book will enlighten listeners beyond those directly involved with foster children to see the resiliency and potential that can be hidden in these vulnerable girls and boys. Each of our foster children has blessed our lives with their own unique story.

Saroo Brierley's journey home to a small village in India with the help of Google Earth became an internationally best-selling book and inspired the major motion picture Lion. But the story of how his adoptive mother, Sue, came into his life half a world away in Tasmania is every bit as riveting. In this uplifting and deeply personal book Sue reveals for the first time her own traumatic childhood. The daughter of a violent alcoholic whose business gambles left her family destitute, she grew up in geographic and emotional isolation.

It's 1965 and Annie Peters is just eight years old when her mother is committed full time to a mental health organization. Uprooted by their mother's illness, Annie and her four siblings find themselves torn between a Catholic-run orphanage and the final remnants of their shattered home. As tumultuous church and state changes begin to collide with the lure of an escalating pop-culture movement, the orphans of St. Vincents are determined to maintain the fierce independence that would forever mark America's early baby-boomer generation.

Cassie and Erin are sisters. They are close - in age, looks and personality - but there is one crucial difference: Cassie is adopted. At 17, Cassie sets out to find her birth mother. She is hungry for the truth, but she discovers her adoption was far more complicated than even she could have imagined. In uncovering her real identity Cassie learns her adoptive parents have kept a terrible secret from her her whole life, which now threatens to destroy everything she has ever held dear.

This memoir is for: parents of special needs children parents of teens struggling with mental health issues adoptive parents spouses of alcoholics and anyone for whom life didn't go as planned.A young girl dreams of the perfect life—marriage, children, and a career—her happily ever after. When a life-threatening medical condition, an alcoholic husband, and a traumatic special needs adoption shatter that dream, there are only two choices—crumble or change the narrative. Valerie learned to embrace the unimaginable to create an extraordinary life. EMBRACE THE UNIMAGINABLE TO FIND HOPE & ...

In a world where children murder children, and where gun violence is the worst in Europe, Nicolas Lunabba's job as a social organizer with Malmö's underclass requires firm boundaries and emotional detachment. But all that changes when he meets Elijah – an unruly teenage boy of mixed heritage whose perilous future reminds Nicolas of his own troubled past amongst the marginalized people who live on the fringes of every society. Allowing Elijah into his home and then into his heart, Nicolas crosses one of his own red lines.

Home. What does it mean to an adopted child? We are like water. We flow in, we flow out -- discovering where we belong in a world of absolutes. These are your parents. Your name. Your siblings. Your religion. Maybe. Maybe not. Before Raven E. Black became a reader of others (The Reluctant Tarot Reader, The Last Painting), she had to find out where she belonged in the world, despite the heartache and struggle of the search. Home reveals the answers she finds in the eternal questions: Who am I? Why am I here? This is her story as an adopted child.

Evan and Mary Ward had their hands full with four small children, trying to make ends meet, when the call from Social Services came. Unfortunate circumstances led them to take custody of a niece and two nephews, making theirs a family of nine. Evan sees an opportunity to improve their financial situation, and through a series of astute moves, perseverance, and friendly demeanor, the family prospers.

Peg Holland became pregnant as a teenager in a conservative village in 1950s Ireland. She knew her life would never be the same again. She was sent away in shame only to find courage and wisdom deep within her soul. After her baby, Mary, is born, Peg and Mary are heckled and ridiculed by townspeople for nine months until Peg decides she must give Mary up for adoption so she can have a better life. This decision haunts Peg the rest of her life. Having nothing left to keep her in Ireland, Peg leaves home to work in America. Mick O'Hagan is swept away by Peg and wants to marry her. She refuses...

The inspiring real life adoption story of two sisters and the unbreakable bond they build along the way. Ericka and Janette are two sisters on a journey to find their forever family in this heartwarming real life tale about adoption and the incredible bond of siblinghood.

Blythe Ward brings more than 20 years experience to her work as an expert in the art and science of building happy stepfamilies. Stepping Up to a Happy Stepfamily, is the culmination of a heartfelt focus on the topic that has endured for many years. As a stepmother, therapist and researcher, Blythe has a profound understanding of the challenges stepfamilies face and she is determined to share her message of hope with people struggling with the demands of managing an “instant family.” “If you want to feel more confident as a stepparent and learn how to develop practical skills to ...

One night on a college campus changed everything for her...and for her son. Carlie Geraldson and her children, Josiah and Emily, travel cross-country to Brownsville, where her husband will become the new pastor of a church. What will the church be like? Carlie wonders. Will my children-both of them-be accepted by the congregation? And will she finally be able to push past what happened to her on a dark moonlit night in South Carolina? As Carlie and her family approaches their new home, Esther Lundy surveys the tomato plants in her garden as a moving truck pulls up in her neighborhood. ...

Foster Parent Collaboration: A Guide for Social Workers and Other Professionals argues that the foster care system is in crisis and one strategy for meaningful change is for social workers and other professionals to collaborate with foster parents. The collaboration will assist with increasing foster parent retention and the quality of care they can provide to children in their homes. The book provides practical suggestions supported by current research for how this can be done.

Ruth is a twenty-eight-year-old schoolteacher in rural Mississippi in 1962. She is the daughter of a prominent Methodist minister and there are expectations for her life. When she finds herself pregnant and unwed, she did what many others did in those days: she disappears. Leaving her three-year old daughter with her parents, Ruth leaves for New Orleans under the cover of attending graduate school. She works in a piano bar, accepts the benevolence of the local church ministry for unwed mothers, and carries the baby to term. Upon his birth, she gives up her son for adoption at the church’s...

Melinda isn't blind; she can easily see Dylan is in a wheelchair. But that is not predominantly what she sees. Melinda sees Dylan, not what mode of transportation he happens to be in. Melinda sees a nice young guy with a heart and a brain, and a great sense of humour. That is what Melinda likes, that's what she wants, a true boyfriend. MELINDA'S PICKS UP WHERE SAMANTHA LEFT OFF. MELINDA AND DYLAN FORM A GREAT FRIENDSHIP/RELATIONSHIP IN THIS BOOK, TOLD FROM MELINDA'S POINT OF VIEW. SHE LOVES ACTING, AND THE CHALLENGES IT PROVIDES. SHE HAS HAD SOME SIBLING RIVALRY TO GIVE HER SOME OBSTACLES ...

Growing up in the 1970s and 1980s, Kari O’Driscoll was taught that strength and stoicism were one and the same. She was also taught that a girl’s job was to take care of everyone else. For decades, she believed these ideas, doing everything she could to try and keep the remaining parts of her family together, systematically anticipating disaster and fixing catastrophes one by one. Truth Has a Different Shape is one woman’s meditation on how societal and familial expectations of mothering influenced her sense of self and purpose, as well as her ideas about caretaking.

"A New Chapter: LGBTQ+ Adoption and the Journey to Parenthood" presents a vital compass for LGBTQ+ couples embarking on a profound and transformative voyage towards parenthood through adoption. This comprehensive guide is tailor-made for these couples, offering practical advice and expert insights to navigate the intricacies of adoption. It's a roadmap designed to empower and prepare them for the remarkable journey ahead. With a dedicated focus on inclusivity, this groundbreaking book tackles the unique challenges and experiences encountered by LGBTQ+ couples throughout the adoption process...

A new authorial voice relaying true stories that are likely to both horrify you and make you laugh out loud. Events and conversations are told with pace, humour and humanity as the author shares with you her memories of the situations she has lovingly endured while at the mercy of her numerous foster boys. It is heart warming, heart breaking and heartfelt in equal measures.