Suggested Reading
There are thousands of adoption resources available for families, professionals, and people who were adopted. The following books have been read and recommended by our staff.
The names after the title of the books are either the authors or editors.
The following books have been read and recommended by our staff.
Preparation for Adoption / Seeking to Adopt
- The Adoption Resource Book: Everything You Ought to Know About Creating an Adoptive Family; Gilman, Lois
- The Open Adoption Experience - A Complete Guide for Adoptive and Birth Families; Melina, Lois Ruskai; Kaplan, Sharon
- Parents Wanted; Harrar, George
- Resolving Infertility; Aronson, Diane; Levert, Suzanne
- The Essential Adoption Handbook; Roberts, Colleen Alexander
Parenting Children Who Were Adopted
- Adoption Lifebook: A Bridge to Your Child's Beginnings; Probst, Cindy
- Adoption Parenting: Creating A Toolbox, Building Connections; MacLeod, Jean; Macrae, Sheena
- After Adoption: The Needs of Adopted Youth; Howard, Jeanne; Livingston, Susan
- Answers to Distraction; Hallowell, Edward M.; Ratey, John J.
- Attaching In Adoption; Gray, Deborah D.
- Being Adopted: The Lifelong Search for Self; Brodzinski, David; Schecter, Marshall; Henig, Robin
- The Bipolar Child: The Definitive and Reassuring Guide to Childhood's Most Misunderstood Behavior; Papolos, Dimitri; Papolos, Janice
- Building The Bonds of Attachments: Awakening Love In Deeply Troubled Children; Hughes, Daniel A.
- A Child's Journey Through Placement; Fahlberg, Vera
- The Family of Adoption; Pavao, Joyce Maguire
- Healing Trauma: Attachment, Mind, Body, Brain; Siegel, Daniel J.; Solomon, Marion F.
- Helping Children Cope with Separation and Loss; Jewett-Jarrat, Claudia
- Lifebooks: Creating a Treasure for The Adopted Child; O'Malley, BethThe Long Journey Home; Richard Delaney; Riley, Debbie
- The Long Journey Home; Richard Delaney; Riley, Debbie
- Nurturing Adoptions: Creating Resilience After Neglect and Trauma; Gray, Deborah D.
- The Open Adoption Experience - A Complete Guide for Adoptive and Birth Families; Melina, Lois Ruskai; Kaplan, Sharon
- To Grandma's House We Stay: When You Have to Stop Spoiling Your Grandchildren and Start Raising Them; Houtman, Sally
- Our Fascinating Journey: Keys to Brain Potential Along the Path of Prenatal Brain Injury; Kulp, Jodee
- Our Own: Adopting and Parenting the Older Child; Maskew, Trish
- The Out of Sync Child: Recognizing and Coping with Sensory Integration Dysfunction; Kranowitz, Carol Stock
- Parenting the Hurt Child: Helping Adoptive Families Heal and Grow; Keck, Gregory C.; Kupecky, Regina
- Parenting Your Adopted Older Child: How to Overcome The Unique Challenges and Raise a Happy Healthy Child; McCreight, Brenda
- The Primal Wound: Understanding the Adopted Child; Verrier, Nancy Newton
- Raising Adopted Children: Practical Reassuring Advice for Every Adoptive Parent; Melina, Lois Ruskai
- Raising Cain: Caring for Troubled Youngsters / Repairing Our Troubled System; Delaney, Richard; McNerny, Terry
- Safe Passage: A Summary of the "Parent 2 Parent" Mentoring Program; Delaney, Richard
- Telling the Truth to Your Adopted or Foster Child: Making Sense of the Past; Schooler, Jayne; Keefer, Betsy
- Troubled Transplants: Unconventional Strategies for Helping Disturbed Foster and Adopted Children; Delaney, Richard; Kunstal, Frank R.
- Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew; Eldridge, Sherrie
- The Unlit Path; Hannah, Deborah
- Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma; Levine PhD; Peter A.; Perry, Bruce D, et al.
- What Happened to you?; Winfrey, Oprach; Perry, Bruce D, et al.
- The Whole Brain Child; Siegel MD, Daniel J.
- The Whole Brain Child Workbook; Siegel MD, Daniel J.
Resources for Professionals
- Attachment, Trauma, & Healing: Understanding & Treating Attachment Disorder in Children & Families; MacLeod, Jeanne A.
- Adoption Parenting: Creating A Toolbox, Building Connections; MacLeod, Jean; Macrae, Sheena
- After Adoption: The Needs of Adopted Youth; Howard, Jeanne; Livingston Smith, Susan
- Beneath The Mask: Understanding Adopted Teens; Riley, Debbie (author); Meeks, John (contributor
- Beyond Consequences, Logic and Control vol 1; Forbes, Heather; Post, Brya
- Beyond Consequences, Logic and Control Vol 2; Forbes, Heather; Post, Bryan
- The Bipolar Child: The Definitive and Reassuring Guide to Childhood's Most Misunderstood Behavior; Papolos, Dimitri; Papolos, Janice
- The Body Keeps the Score: Brain-Based Parenting The Neuroscience of Caregiving for Healthy Attachment; Van Der Kolk, Bessel Hughes, Daniel A; Baylin, Jonathan
- Building The Bonds of Attachments: Awakening Love In Deeply Troubled Children; Hughes, Daniel A.
- A Child's Journey Through Placement; Fahlberg, VeraThe Connected Child; Purvis PhD, Karyn B; Cross PhD
- The Connected Therapist: Relating Through the Senses; Smith Marti L.
- The Family of Adoption; Pavao, Joyce Maguire
- The Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in The Decades Before Roe v. Wade; Fessler, Ann
- Healing Trauma: Attachment, Mind, Body, Brain; Siegel, Daniel J.; Solomon, Marion F.
- Helping Children Cope with Separation and Loss; Jewett-Jarrat, Claudia
- Lifebooks: Creating a Treasure for The Adopted Child; O'Malley, Beth
- Nurturing Adoptions: Creating Resilience After Neglect and Trauma; Gray, Deborah D.
- Our Fascinating Journey: Keys to Brain Potential Along the Path of Prenatal Brain Injury; Kulp, Jodee
- The Out of Sync Child: Recognizing and Coping with Sensory Integration Dysfunction; Kranowitz, Carol Stock
- Parenting The Hurt Child: Helping Adoptive Families Heal and Grow; Keck, Gregory C.; Kupecky, Regina
- The Primal Wound: Understanding the Adopted Child; Verrier, Nancy Newton
- Raising Cain: Caring for Troubled Youngsters / Repairing Our Troubled System; Delaney, Richard; McNerny, Terry
- Seven Core Issues in Adoption and Permanency: A Comprehensive Guide to Promoting Understanding and Healing in Adoption. Foster Care, Kinship Families and Third Party Reproduction; Rozia, Sharon; Davis Maxon, Allison
- Troubled Transplants: Unconventional Strategies for Helping Disturbed Foster and Adopted Children; Delaney, Richard; Kunstal, Frank R.
- The Unlit Path; Hannah, Deborah
- Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma; Levine PhD; Peter A.; Perry, Bruce D, et al.
- What Happened to you?; Winfrey, Oprach; Perry, Bruce D, et al.
- The Whole Brain Child; Siegel MD, Daniel J.T
- The Whole Brain Child Workbook; Siegel MD, Daniel J.
Transracial Adoption
- Black Baby, White Hands; John, Jaiya
- Inside Transracial Adoption; Steinberg, Gail; Hall, Beth
- Somebody's Someone; Louise, Regina
Special Needs Adoption
- Adoption Parenting: Creating a Toolbox, Building Connections; MacLeod, Jean; Macrae, Sheena
- The Best I Can Be: Living With Fetal Alcohol Syndrome-Effects; Kulp, Jodee; Kulp, Liz
- The Bipolar Child: The Definitive and Reassuring Guide to Childhood's Most Misunderstood Behavior; Papolos, Dimitri; Papolos, Janice
- Driven to Distraction: Recognizing and Coping With Attention Deficit Disorder From Childhood Through Adulthood; Hallowell, Edward M.; Ratey, John J.
- The Explosive Child; Greene, Ross W.
- Our Fascinating Journey: Keys to Brain Potential Along the Path of Prenatal Brain Injury; Kulp, Jodee
- Parenting the Hurt Child; Keck, Gregory; Kupecky, Regina
Search and Reunion
- The Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in The Decades Before Roe v. Wade; Fessler, Ann
- Hidden Heritage: The Story of Paul LaRoche; Marshak, Barbara
- Looking for Lost Bird: A Jewish Woman's Search For Her Navajo Roots; Melanson, Yvette; Safran, Claire
Children’s / Teens' Books
- The Long Journey Home; Delaney, Richard; McNerny, Terry
- A Mother for Choco; Keiko Kasza
- Over the Moon: An Adoption Tale; Karen Katz
- Rosie's Family: An Adoption Story; Lori Rosove
- Beneath the Mask: For Teen Adoptees; Riley MS, Debbie
- My Flight Training Manual: Flying Above the Clouds in Sibling Relationships; Heaton, Gail
Memoirs / Stories
- A Child Called It: One Child's Courage to Survive; Pelzer, Dave
- China Ghosts: My Daughter’s Journey to America, My Passage to Fatherhood; Gammage, Jeff
- Hidden Heritage: The Story of Paul LaRoche; Marshak, Barbara
- Look Me In The Eye; John Elder Robison
- Looking for Lost Bird: A Jewish Woman's Search For Her Navajo Roots; Melanson, Yvette; Safran, Claire
- Love In The Driest Season: A Family Memoir; Tucker, Neely
- A Love Like No Other; Kruger, Pamela; Smolowe, Jill
- The Martian Child; Gerrold, David
- Somebody's Someone; Louise, Regina
- The Unlit Path; Hannah, Deborah
International Adoption
- Beyond Good Intentions: A Mother Reflects on Raising Internationally Adopted Children; Register, Cheri
- China Ghosts: My Daughter’s Journey to America, My Passage to Fatherhood; Gammage, Jeff
- How to Adopt Internationally: A Guide for Agency-Directed and Independent Adoptions; Nelson Erichsen, Jean; Erichsen, Heino R.
- I Wish for You a Beautiful Life: Letters From the Korean Birth Mothers; Dorrow, Sara
- Love In The Driest Season: A Family Memoir; Tucker, Neely
- There is No Me Without You; Greene, Melissa Fay
- Wanting a Daughter, Needing a Son: Abandonment, Adoption and Orphanage Care in China; Johnson, Kay Ann; Klatzkin, Amy