Adoption

When Denise Roessle became a mother at 45, her long-held dream came true. She felt as if she were 19 again, the age at which she got pregnant out of wedlock and relinquished her newborn son for adoption. Suddenly, he was back — this stranger she had given birth to — and he wasn’t just searching for his roots. Joshua was looking for a mom. Eager to embrace the second chance she had been granted, Denise leapt wholeheartedly into the role.

“It’s a BIG boy,” she announced to her family and friends, setting free her twenty-six-year secret. But Joshua was not a boy. He was a grown man, with a history that fell far short of what she had envisioned for him when she’d been assured he would be “better off” without her. His adoptive parents had essentially given up on him at age thirteen, sending him away with only an eighth-grade education. He drifted through a series of institutions and group homes, and ultimately onto the New York City streets, where he fell into drugs and crime. When an early marriage failed, he and his young wife surrendered an infant and toddler to adoption. By the time Denise and her son reunited, he was in his second marriage to a teenaged runaway who was six months pregnant with their first child. Despite her disappointment and his obvious problems, Denise was determined to restore their severed bond and give him the unconditional love that had been lacking in her own childhood.

At the same time, she struggled with her parents’ adverse reaction to her reunion and their refusal to acknowledge their grandson’s existence. The shameful event that they had worked so vigorously to bury was back to haunt them. They could not accept their daughter’s happiness at having found her lost child.

Still reeling in the overwhelming mix of joy and grief, gratitude and guilt triggered by reunion with her son, Denise received a letter from an aunt she never knew existed. Aunt Mabel revealed some startling information about Denise’s mother, who had claimed to be an only child raised by a kindly couple after both her parents passed away. In truth, she was one of nine siblings tossed to the winds by their mother after the death of their father in 1929. As she got to know her new-found aunts, uncles and cousins, Denise became obsessed with understanding how her grandmother could desert her children and how her mother, who so clearly bore the scars of abandonment, could then force her own daughter to give up a child.

A year into their reunion, after Josh’s wife left him with their ten-month-old daughter, the rage that he had initially denied surfaced. Denise went from feeling like a new mom to the frustrated parent of an out-of-control teenager. In the face of his angry outbursts and threats to cut her off, she remained intent on “fixing” him, believing that, in time, she could heal his wounds. Once more, she put her own pain aside and stood by him as he married twice more and fathered another child.

Only when Josh and Denise reached an impasse in year five, did she recognize how emotionally shutdown she had been since relinquishing her son — and how she had let her fear of losing him again hold her hostage. In the silence of their estrangement, she began the hard work that ultimately allowed her to resolve her own issues, reclaim the young woman she had left behind after surrendering what turned out to be her only child, and make peace with the past. She found acceptance and forgiveness for her mother, her son, and ultimately herself.

How does a mother cope when she is forced to walk away from her three children and never see them again? That is what happened to JB’s mother, Myrtle. Eventually, rescued from her despair by tall, dark and handsome George Rowley who fell in love her, Myrtle started a new life and had seven more children. She buried the grief of losing her first children deep within and kept her pain secret. JB and her siblings were unaware of the existence of Myrtle’s first three children until after she died. Desperate to know how such a thing could happen to a devoted and caring mother, JB went on a journey to find out. What she discovered was a heartbreaking story of loss. It was a long time before JB was able to work out that her mother kept her early life and her first family secret out of misplaced guilt and shame. To redress that, JB decided to tell the whole world her mother’s secret. Whisper My Secret is a proud declaration that Myrtle did nothing deserving of guilt or shame.

Book length is approximately 57 000 words.

As an infant, Henrietta Hexagon was left alone in a shape sorter with no one to care for her. She was found and adopted by a family of triangles. She loves her family more than anything but she can't seem to get past the feeling that she doesn't quite fit in. One warm spring morning, Henrietta goes outside searching for hexagons. She does manage to find one but in doing so, she finds herself in a very sticky situation. She heads back home feeling down and defeated but when she arrives, everything changes! This sweet story about adoption and family relationships also subtly teaches a valuable math lesson. Children will adore Henrietta and will also learn the important lesson that it doesn't matter what you look like on the outside, it's what's on the inside that counts.

Abandoned by his mother in a St. Petersburg dumpster when he was only three days old, Alex Krutov should not have survived. But God had something else in mind.

Raised in the harsh Russian orphanage system, Alex’s life was one of hopelessness and despair until the arrival of Christian missionaries from the West when the Soviet Union collapsed.

Infinitely More is the inspiring true story of a young man who would not give up, and the God who relentlessly pursued him. Jesus said, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” This is the story of God coming to Alex, and the hope He offers to all of us.

“So why does a father of three biological daughter want to adopt from Guatemala?”

Daddy, Come & Get Me: a dad’s adventure through a Guatemalan adoption is a spiritual memoir of Gil Michelini’s journey of bringing his daughter home. Moving alongside the story, Gil reveals a plausible story, based on the official Guatemalan adoption documents, of how a birthmother made the decision for adoption.

Gil couldn’t find Guatemala on a map when committing to the adoption of his daughter. He didn’t know anything about starting an international adoption. He didn’t know anyone who had adopted internationally.

He did have a goal of adopting a child from outside the United States. It wasn’t inspired by a mission trip or another experience; it was something he wanted to accomplish. His wife didn’t share in the goal nor did many of his friends; however, God turned his goal into a calling—through a nocturnal dream—when his daughter yelled from a mountaintop, “Daddy, come and get me.”

This is the first American dad’s memoir of following his call to adopt a daughter from Guatemala.

THE NOVEL

ALMA OF MY HEART is a timeless story of love, hope and triumph over loss.

Irena Montoya and Tatiana Jones come from two entirely different worlds. Irena is a poor, illegal immigrant who sneaks across the Mexican border and walks 46 days to Los Angeles where she hopes to find a new life for herself and her unborn daughter. Tatiana is a wealthy architect who has everything a woman could want - beauty, brains, money and an adoring husband - but she can’t have children. ALMA OF MY HEART is the story of how these two women find love in a way neither ever expected.

THE AUTHOR

Susanna Lo is an award-winning American filmmaker. ALMA OF MY HEART is her first novel and next feature film.

After being found in a dumpster as an infant, Delia Clark grew up feeling like she was worthless. This might explain why she fell for a no good womanizer like Jason James. When their short painful marriage comes to a heartbreaking end, Delia must find the courage to start her life again. A new successful career as a high school teacher and a passionate summer romance with sexy Chase Donovan finally make her feel like she’s more than just a nobody. But her world is shattered once again when Chase turns out to be one of her students.

"An extremely useful parenting handbook... truly outstanding ... strongly recommended."
--Library Journal (starred review)

"A tremendous resource for parents and professionals alike."
--Thomas Atwood, president and CEO, National Council for Adoption

The adoption of a child is always a joyous moment in the life of a family. Some adoptions, though, present unique challenges. Welcoming these children into your family--and addressing their special needs--requires care, consideration, and compassion.

Written by two research psychologists specializing in adoption and attachment, The Connected Child will help you:

• Build bonds of affection and trust with your adopted child
• Effectively deal with any learning or behavioral disorders
• Discipline your child with love without making him or her feel threatened

"A must-read not only for adoptive parents, but for all families striving to correct and connect with their children."
--Carol S. Kranowitz, author of The Out-of-Sync Child

 

"Drs. Purvis and Cross have thrown a life preserver not only to those just entering uncharted waters, but also to those struggling to stay afloat."
--Kathleen E. Morris, editor of S. I. Focus magazine

 

"Truly an exceptional, innovative work . . . compassionate, accessible, and founded on a breadth of scientific knowledge and clinical expertise."
--Susan Livingston Smith, program director, Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute

"The Connected Child is the literary equivalent of an airline oxygen mask and instructions:  place the mask over your own face first, then over the nose of your child. This book first assists the parent, saying, in effect,  'Calm down, you're not the first mom or dad in the world to face this hurdle, breathe deeply, then follow these simple steps.'  The sense of not facing these issues alone--the relief that your child's behavior is not off the charts--is hugely comforting. Other children have behaved this way; other parents have responded thusly; welcome to the community of therapeutic and joyful adoptive families."
--Melissa Fay Greene, author of There is No Me Without You: One Woman's Odyssey to Rescue Africa's Children

Anne of Green Gables is a bestselling novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery published in 1908. It was written as fiction for readers of all ages, but in recent decades has been considered a children's book. Montgomery found her inspiration for the book on an old piece of paper that she had written at a young age, describing a couple that were mistakenly sent an orphan girl instead of a boy, yet decided to keep her. Montgomery also drew upon her own childhood experiences in rural Prince Edward Island. Montgomery used a photograph of Evelyn Nesbit, which she had clipped from New York’s Metropolitan Magazine, and pasted the framed clipping on the wall of her bedroom, as the model for the face of Anne Shirley, the book's main character.

Montgomery also found inspiration in the "formula Ann" orphan stories, the Anns without the e. Other characters, like Gilbert Blythe, were modeled, in part, on real-life characters. Montgomery wrote the novel in the twilight of the day, sitting at her window and overlooking the fields of Cavendish. Since publication, Anne of Green Gables has sold more than 50 million books. In addition, this book is taught to students around the world.

The book includes illustrations from the first edition which was illustrated by M.A. and W.A.J. Claus, active table of contents and a link of free audiobook to download (which can be downloaded separately using a PC/Mac) at the end of the book.