Suggested Reading
There are thousands of excellent adoption resources available for adoptive families, foster families, professionals, and adoptees. The following books have been recommended by adoption professionals and experienced adoptive families. They represent current best practices in attachment, trauma-informed care, identity development, permanency, and adoption.
The following books have been read and recommended by our staff.
Preparation for Adoption / Seeking to Adopt
- Adoption Lifebook: A Bridge to Your Child's Beginnings — Colleen Alexander-Roberts
- The Open Adoption Experience: A Complete Guide for Adoptive and Birth Families — Lois Ruskai Melina & Sharon Kaplan Roszia
- The Adoption Resource Book — Lois Gilman
- The Connected Parent — Karyn Purvis, Lisa Qualls & Melissa Corkum
- Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew — Sherrie Eldridge
Parenting Children Who Were Adopted
- Attaching in Adoption — Deborah D. Gray
- Nurturing Adoptions — Deborah D. Gray
- Parenting the Hurt Child — Gregory C. Keck & Regina M. Kupecky
- The Connected Parent — Karyn Purvis, Lisa Qualls & Melissa Corkum
- The Connected Child — Karyn B. Purvis, David Cross & Wendy Lyons Sunshine
- The Whole-Brain Child Workbook — Daniel J. Siegel & Tina Payne Bryson
- No-Drama Discipline — Daniel J. Siegel & Tina Payne Bryson
- The Power of Showing Up — Daniel J. Siegel & Tina Payne Bryson
- The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog — Bruce D. Perry & Maia Szalavitz
- What Happened to You? — Oprah Winfrey & Bruce D. Perry
- The Family of Adoption — Joyce Maguire Pavao
- Being Adopted: The Lifelong Search for Self — David Brodzinsky, Marshall Schechter & Robin Marantz Henig
- Telling the Truth to Your Adopted or Foster Child — Jayne Schooler & Betsy Keefer Smalley
- Lifebooks: Creating a Treasure for the Adopted Child — Beth O'Malley
- Helping Children Cope with Separation and Loss — Claudia Jewett Jarratt
- Our Own: Adopting and Parenting the Older Child — Trish Maskew
Resources for Professionals
- Seven Core Issues in Adoption and Permanency — Sharon Roszia & Allison Davis Maxon
- Attachment, Trauma, & Healing — Jeanne A. MacLeod
- The Connected Therapist: Relating Through the Senses — Marti Smith
- The Body Keeps the Score — Bessel van der Kolk
- What Happened to You? — Oprah Winfrey & Bruce D. Perry
- The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog — Bruce D. Perry
- Beyond Consequences, Logic and Control (Volumes 1 & 2) — Heather Forbes & Bryan Post
- Adoption Parenting: Creating a Toolbox, Building Connections — Jeanne MacLeod & Sheena Macrae
- After Adoption: The Needs of Adopted Youth — Jeanne Howard & Susan Livingston Smith
- The Family of Adoption — Joyce Maguire Pavao
Transracial & Transcultural Adoption
- Inside Transracial Adoption — Gail Steinberg & Beth Hall
- Black Baby, White Hands — Jaiya John
- In Their Voices: Black Americans on Transracial Adoption — Rita Simon & Rhonda Roorda
- All You Can Ever Know — Nicole Chung
- Bitterroot: A Salish Memoir of Transracial Adoption — Susan Devan Harness
- Somebody's Someone — Regina Louise
Special Needs Adoption
- The Connected Child — Karyn Purvis
- Parenting the Hurt Child — Gregory Keck & Regina Kupecky
- The Explosive Child Sixth Edition — Ross W. Greene
- Driven to Distraction — Edward M. Hallowell & John J. Ratey
- The Best I Can Be — Jodee Kulp & Liz Kulp
- Our Fascinating Journey — Jodee Kulp
Search and Reunion
- The Girls Who Went Away — Ann Fessler
- Journey of the Adopted Self — Betty Jean Lifton
- Hidden Heritage — Barbara Marshak
- Looking for Lost Bird — Yvette Melanson & Claire Safran
Children’s / Teen & Young Adult Books
- A Mother for Choco — Keiko Kasza
- Over the Moon: An Adoption Tale — Karen Katz
- Rosie's Family: An Adoption Story — Lori Rosove
- Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born — Jamie Lee Curtis
- We've Belonged Together — Todd Parr
- Families, Families, Families! — Suzanne Lang
- Beneath the Mask — Debbie Riley
- The Long Journey Home — Richard Delaney & Debbie Riley
- The Lucky Ones — Liz Lawson
- Far From the Tree — Robin Benway
- My Flight Training Manual — Gail Heaton
Memoirs
- All You Can Ever Know — Nicole Chung
- Somebody's Someone — Regina Louise
- The Martian Child — David Gerrold
- China Ghosts — Jeff Gammage
- Look Me in the Eye — John Elder Robison
- Love in the Driest Season — Neely Tucker
- Hidden Heritage — Barbara Marshak
- Looking for Lost Bird — Yvette Melanson & Claire Safran
International Adoption
- How to Adopt Internationally — Jean Nelson-Erichsen & Heino Erichsen
- There Is No Me Without You — Melissa Fay Greene
- I Wish for You a Beautiful Life — Sara Dorow
- China Ghosts — Jeff Gammage
- Love in the Driest Season — Neely Tucker
- Beyond Good Intentions — Cheri Register
- Wanting a Daughter, Needing a Son — Kay Ann Johnson