Posts Tagged ‘middle grade books about adoption’

Book group “Taking Flight”

Monday, March 11th, 2019

On Sunday, our Adoption Book Group discussed the memoir by mother-and-daughter Michaela and Elaine DePrince, Taking Flight (also published as Hope in a Ballet Shoe).

Michaela was born in war-torn Sierra Leone, orphaned by violence and disease, and adopted by the DePrince family in Vermont. From a very young age, she showed exceptional promise as a ballerina and is now a soloist at Dutch National Ballet; you may also recognize her from the documentary “First Position” and “Dancing with the Stars.” Michaela is an extraordinary young woman with an amazing story, and the book is an inspiring read.

Taking Flight seems to be written for a Young Adult audience, although any reader will be moved by Michaela’s strength and resilience. The love and support she feels from her family is palpable.

Photo credit: michaeladeprince.com, Vogue Germany

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Sliding Into Home by Nina Vincent

Saturday, April 28th, 2018

My dear friend and fellow Guatmama, Nina Vincent, has published her first book! Sliding Into Home features protagonist Felipe “Flip” Simpson, born in Guatemala and adopted to a white family in California. From the Amazon listing:

“Thirteen-year-old Flip Simpson’s ideal life just began to crumble. His adoptive parents are splitting up. He’s moving from the only home he’s ever known. He has to leave before his baseball team finishes the playoffs. And his little sister is his only companion. Flip folds under the weight of so much loss until he meets Ricki, an indigenous classmate who loves baseball and gives Flip a sense of pride in his Mayan roots and Zorba, an eccentric houseboat dweller who is a cross between The Cat in the Hat and Willy Wonka.”

The novel is suitable for middle-grade readers; I’ve bought a copy for my high-school daughter, as well. Sliding Into Home is cause for celebration: Kids love to see themselves reflected in books. Congratulations, Nina!

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