I received a book to read and review and I am pleased to do so.

The book is called “The Little Girl” by Phil Wong. This is a children’s book about a little girl raised by a single dad.

The book is set in China and focuses on a baby girl, Ming Zhu, who is abandoned and found by a man Li Feng. He takes her home and raises her as his daughter.

There are several things I like about this book. The illustrations are beautiful and children will love them. The colors are both soft and bright.

I like the way it embraces the Chinese... more

Adoption in the United States, A Reference for Families, Professionals, and Students is a new book just released in May by Lyceum Books Incorporated. If you are new to the world of adoption, reading this book could save you hundreds of research hours. It could also save you from making embarrassing blunders when dealing with birth families, adoptive families, or adoption professionals. Those of us who have been part of the adoption world for over a decade have had to learn the ropes by asking many questions and making mistakes. If you are thinking about adopting,... more

Hereditary Spherocytosis is a relatively uncommon blood disorder, occurring in 1 person out of approximately 5,000.

As the name suggests, the condition is primarily an inherited one. With this condition, the blood cells are mutated, and are atypical cells with very thin walls. Because the cells are not the shape healthy red lbood cells are, they have difficulty passing through the body. However, unlike sickled cells, they do not cause pain as they pass through the body. A hallmark of the condition is that the spleen retains these cells longer because of their... more

Say, that you are an adoptive family. A teenager approaches you for advice. She is barely in high school and confides that she just found out that she is four months pregnant from the school nurse. She has told no one else, doesn’t know who else to ask, and is desperate for advice. What would you tell this teenager? After all, you are an adoptive family with a current homestudy. Would you try to convince her to place with you? Would you give her all of her possible options, including adoption, but not mention your family’s status? Would you mention that... more

Should your family socialize with other adoptive families? What benefits are there to socializing with other adoptive families? Does your area have organized events specifically for adoptive families? If not, have you thought about organizing a support group or an event? Maybe you have never considered any of these questions. Because our adoption journey began through providing foster care to area children, attending social events for adoptive families seemed very natural. In the process of becoming licensed foster parents we were required to attend many hours of training and... more

A reader recently posted a question on one of my blogs as a comment. She asked me if the adoption tax credit could help to eliminate a person’s self-employment tax. This reader was understandably confused when she was told that the adoption tax credit did not apply to the self-employment tax. Surprisingly, I can answer this question. In my previous life, before adoption, I was an accountant. In addition, Super Dad and I completed two adoptions in 2007 and I earned money from self-employment (blogging) in 2007. Therefore, our tax return may be very similar to this reader’s tax... more

Chapter one covers an adoptee’s fantasies and curiosity about their birth family. Throughout the book, Danea reinforces the normalcy of a teenager’s feelings, emotions, and curiosity. She makes it very plain that everyone experiences these feelings, fantasies, and emotions at some time in their lives. She validates a teenager’s rights to feelings, whatever those feelings might be, and rights to information. She encourages journaling to help teenagers work through their feelings and track their progress.

Danea states in the book that it is natural for... more

I was really excited to receive a new book in the mail about adoption issues. Adopted Teens Only A Survival Guide to Adolescence is 98 pages of clearly written, useful, and relevant information organized in a logical sequence. The book isn’t actually for adoptive parents although it can be eye opening for us to understand what our teens are thinking and going through emotionally. It is written for adolescence who were adopted and are trying to make sense of it all. The book was written by Danea Gorbett and published by iUniverse.... more

This book is over five hundred pages long, so I haven’t read all of it yet; but the book that I find myself consulting over and over again is the book Trauma Through A Child’s Eyes by Peter A. Levine and Maggie Kline.

The book is extremely thorough and clinical, yet highly readable and accessible. The book walks the reader through infancy through adolescence and is specific to issues of trauma.

There are four sections: Understanding Trauma (covering what trauma is, physiological response, signs of trauma, and types of trauma); General Guide For... more

I’m a knitter. I love to knit. I take my knitting with me everywhere, and it’s become my trademark. I belong to an online knitting community that happens to have message boards for everything under the sun, not just knitting. Recently, I found a wonderfully supportive group of women who suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and who have welcomed me with open arms as I try to understand the challenges facing my daughter.

In talking to them over the last few days, I’ve realized how important it is to have a support system that “gets” you. I have... more