From the Publisher: Adopted from Guatemala as an infant by an American archaeologist, Cory McClintock knows nothing about the culture of his birth, nor the ancient prophecy about the end of time predicted to come with the close of the Maya Calendar on December 21, 2012. Days before the approaching apocalypse, Cory is kidnapped and dragged back to Guatemala. As the last living heir to the first Maya king, only Cory can satisfy the gods’ demand for human blood required by an ancient ritual. But the gods aren’t the only ones hungry for a piece of Cory. Only by killing him, can his biological uncle make himself a living god and rule the new creation predicted to rise from the ashes of the old one. Cory has to choose: save himself, or a world reeling toward disaster. The 2012 Prophecies won a Juvenile Fiction finalist medal in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards for 2012.

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About the Author: It all started with a Master’s Degree in Latin American Studies from Georgetown University. Since then, L.P. Simone earned a Master’s of Fine Arts in Children’s Writing from Vermont College, worked as a school librarian and a history teacher in Washington, DC, and taught English to tour guides at Maya ruins in Guatemala. After complaining A LOT about the lack of good Maya Apocalypse stories, Simone decided enough was enough. This is the result.

From the Back Cover: SOME PEOPLE ARE BORN WIH IT.

Meet the new Hollywood Royalty: Amelie, the not-so-innocent starlet; Myla and Ash, the golden couple; Jacob, the geek turned hottie; and Jojo, the outsider who’ll do anything to get on the A-List.

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About the Author: Zoey Dean is the author of the national bestselling A-List and her novel Privileged is now a CW original TV series. She divides her time between Beverly Hills and several small islands in the Caribbean. Zoey is currently working on her next juicy A-List novel, coming in the summer of 2009.

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By the Same Author: Sunset Boulevard (2009) and City of Angels (2010), among others.

Aaron huddles on his bed, desperately shutting himself away from memories of his mother and foster homes; from the only person he trusts, his sister; from the people who have offered him a home. Unable to adjust to the idea of being adopted and having a new mother and father, Aaron locks his door against the world.

From the Back Cover: Jennie McGrady barely has time to do her homework, much less read the school newspaper. But when an article announces that her classmate Annie Phillips was a trash-can baby, Jennie takes notice. Who would publish such horrible news? And in the wake of the recent murders of vocal pro-life advocates, Jennie wonders if there could be a connection.

Annie Phillips didn’t even know she was adopted, so learning she’d been abandoned in a trash bin sends her reeling. Unable to face her family and friends, and unsure of who she is anymore, Annie disappears. Everyone believes she’s run away, but Jennie knows that Annie suspected she was being followed....

Debra Noble is the first television reporter on the scene when Annie disappears. Her motives seem to go beyond those of a journalist, though, and Jennie suspects Debra knows something of Annie’s past. Does she know where Annie is?

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About the Author: Patricia Rushford is an award-winning writer, speaker, and teacher who has published numerous articles and more than thirty books, including What Kids Need Most in a Mom, The Jack and Jill Syndrome: Healing for Broken Children, and Have You Hugged Your Teenager Today? She is a registered nurse and has a master’s degree in counseling from Western Evangelical Seminary. She and her husband, Ron, live in Washington State and have two grown children, eight grandchildren, and lots of nephews and nieces.

Pat has been reading mysteries for as long as she can remember and is delighted to be writing a series of her own. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, Romance Writers of America, and several other writing organizations. She is also the co-director of Writer’s Weekend at the Beach.

From the Publisher: Big brother Kevin thinks his adopted younger sister Abby is a pest; but after she tries to please him by pretending to be a boy, he makes a poster that says “Abby is a SUPER girl,” and asks to take her to school for “show and tell.”

She asks what he will tell. “That you’re adopted, that we get to keep you forever, and I gave you my fire engine for your birthday,” he replies.

After he has left, Abby asks her mother if they can adopt a little brother for Kevin, and Mother promises to ask Daddy about that.

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About the Author: Jeanette Caines is also the author of Daddy, Window Wishing, and Just Us Women.

Steven Kellogg is the creator of the popular Pinkerton series, among numerous other books for children.

From the Back Cover: When Lou McNally was last in Stoneybrook, she was the Worst Kid Ever. Now she’s back ... and Abby is going to be her baby-sitter.

Abby is prepared for the worst. But instead of acting like a holy terror, Lou is a perfect angel. In fact, Abby thinks Lou is being too perfect.

Is the new Lou too good to be true?

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About the Author: Ann M. Martin is the bestselling author of the momentous series The Baby-sitters Club, as well as the Main Street series. Her other acclaimed novels include A Dog’s Life, Belle Teal, Here Today, and the Newbery Honor Book A Corner of the Universe. She lives in upstate New York.

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By the Same Author: Yours Turly, Shirley (1988, Holiday House); Karen’s Little Sister (1989); Kristy and the Mother’s Day Surprise (1989); Ma and Pa Dracula (1989, Holiday House); Claudia and the Great Search (1990); and Special Delivery (2009), among many others.

From the Back Cover: A high school senior, Abe seems to have it all: a Division I track scholarship, a hot girlfriend, and a loving and wealthy adoptive family, including a brother who doubles as his best friend. But suddenly, horrific flashbacks and seizures rip him back to war-torn Africa, where he lost his mother, his sister, his friends, and almost his own life. In therapy for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Abe uncovers even darker moments that make him question why he’s still alive. This contemporary novel portrays the pressures of teens to live normal lives; while facing mental illness and—in Abe’s case—a past that most people couldn’t possibly understand ... or survive.

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About the Author: Award-winning children’s author Pegi Deitz Shea has written a suspenseful, action-filled book that will open teens’ eyes and hearts to the lives of young people exposed to violence around the world. She has brought the worlds of refugees, immigrants, child laborers and historical figures into the minds of readers of all ages through books including The Whispering Cloth, Tangled Threads, Ten Mice for Tet, The Carpet Boy’s Gift, Patience Wright, and her 2010 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor book, Noah Webster: Weaver of Words.

From the Dust Jacket: Some kids excel in art, others in sports or math. But Christopher Lane’s talents lie only in thieving and lying—or so he’s always been told. So it comes as a shock to everyone, not least to Chris himself, when he wins a place at an exclusive academy after a very unusual interview.

It turns out Chris does have a natural gift for one thing—something that every child can do during their twelfth year, though few will ever find out.

He can enter people’s minds.

Now Chris must learn to use this power, his Ability, to make the world a safer place. But while Chris is perfecting his talent, twin brothers Ernest and Mortimer are using their Ability to carry out the plan - their mother has spent many years perfecting. And she’s not interested in saving anyone.

All she wants is revenge.

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About the Author: The daughter of South American parents, Monica Meira Vaughan lived in Spain before moving to London at the age of five, where she learned English by watching Sesame Street and reading every Roald Dahl book she could get her hands on. On leaving school, Monica trained as a teacher, working mostly, with children with emotional and behavioral difficulties. The Ability is her first novel.

From the Publisher: At first Lynn can’t believe it. Her close friend and neighbor, seventeen-year-old David Morris has murdered his adoptive parents and committed suicide. Slowly she tries to piece together David’s past from the journal he kept hidden. Yet as the diary draws to a close, Lynn is strangely unwilling to have the mystery about David solved. Lynn must find the way to confront the reality—as terrible and shocking as it is.

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About the Author: Susan Beth Pfeffer is an award-winning and prolific author, writing books for children, young adults and adults since 1970. Inspired by her father publishing a book on constitutional law, she wanted to be a writer from a very young age. She published her first young adult novel, Just Morgan, before she graduated from college. She has always been a writer, publishing more than 60 titles of contemporary and historical fiction, series books, and picture books. She has also written a book for adults on writing for children. Her most notable books, include About David, a South Carolina Young Adult Book Award winner, and The Year Without Michael, the ALA Best Books for Young Adults, YALSA Best of the Best, and Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year.

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By the Same Author: Most Precious Blood (1991) and Devil’s Den (1998, Walker & Co.), among many others.

From the Publisher: Mike tries so hard to please his father, but the only language his dad seems to speak is calculus. And for a boy with a math learning disability, nothing could be more difficult. When his dad sends him to live with distant relatives in rural Pennsylvania for the summer to work on an engineering project, Mike figures this is his big chance to buckle down and prove himself. But when he gets there, nothing is what he thought it would be. The project has nothing at all to do with engineering, and he finds himself working alongside his wacky eighty-something-year-old aunt, a homeless man, and a punk rock girl as part of a town-wide project to adopt a boy from Romania. Mike may not learn anything about engineering, but what he does learn is far more valuable.

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About the Author: Kathryn Erskine spent many years as a lawyer before realizing that she’d rather write things that people might actually enjoy reading. She grew up mostly overseas and attended eight different schools, her favorite being the Hogwarts-type castle in Scotland. The faculty, of course, did not consist of wizards, although ... how did the headmistress know that it was “the wee redhead” who led the campaign to free the mice from the biology lab? Erskine draws on her childhood—and her second childhood through her children—for her stories. She still loves to travel but nowadays most trips tend to be local, such as basketball and tennis courts, occasional emergency room visits, and the natural food store for very healthy organic chocolate with “life saving” flavonoids.

From the Publisher: Meet Maybelline Mary Katherine Mary Ann Chestnut, named for two Miss Americas and her mother Chessy’s favorite brand of mascara. Chessy teaches the students in her charm school her Seven Select Rules for Young Ladies, but she won’t tell Maybe who her real father is—or protect her from her latest scuzzball boyfriend. So Maybe hitches a ride to California with her friends Hollywood and Thammasat Tantipinichwong Schneider (a/k/a Ted)—and what she finds there is funny, sad, true, and inspiring.

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About the Author: When she was little, Lisa Yee could see the Hollywood sign and the Griffith Park Observatory from her house. She attended the University of Southern California (go Trojans), then spent seventeen years in Florida before returning to the Los Angeles area. She now lives with her family in South Pasadena. Lisa is the author of Millicent Min, Girl Genius, the winner of the Sid Fleischman Humor Award; Stanford Wong Flunks Big-Time, an ALA Notable Book for Older Readers; and So Totally Emily Ebers. As part of her research for Absolutely Maybe, Lisa ate at approximately twenty-four different taco trucks. She recommends the carnitas.

From the Back Cover (Harper Trophy): For Annie and Petey Braeden, it is a year of changes. Their father is wounded in Vietnam and retires from the service. The family moves to a farm in East Texas. Soon there’s a new baby in the house, and Taro—a Vietnamese boy who saved Mr. Braeden’s life during the war. Petey’s thrilled to have an adopted brother, but Annie doesn’t trust Taro. She turns away and dreams of buying the “absolutely perfect horse.” Instead, she ends up buying the Chief, an old Indian pony, to save him from being sold for dogmeat.

Everyone thinks Annie’s crazy. She can’t even ride the Chief. But the old pony has plenty of courage left in his bones—he even teaches Annie a thing or two about love. And when the Chief comes to the family’s rescue one terrible afternoon, he proves he really is the absolutely perfect horse.

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About the Author: The coauthors of The Absolutely Perfect Horse have been friends since their school days. When Marylois Dunn moved back to their hometown, Ardath Mayhar bullyragged her into getting out a book she had written earlier and turning it over to Ardath to update and rewrite. Between the two of them, recalling their childhoods in East Texas, one in a small town and one on a farm, they have managed to bring to life the feel of that unique locality.

Both are native Texans. Marylois is a recently retired librarian with one published book, The Man in the Box: A Story from Vietnam, to her credit. Ardath is a science fiction and fantasy writer with six published books.

From the Dust Jacket: When Tobias Richard Vandevelde wakes up in a hospital with no memory of the night before, his horrified mother tells him that he was found unconscious. At Featherdale Wildlife Park. In a dingo pen. He assumes that his two rambunctious best friends are somehow responsible, until he discovers that they’re Just as freaked out as he is. Then the mysterious Reuben turns up, claiming that Toby has a rare and dangerous “condition.” Next thing he knows, Toby finds himself involved with a strange bunch of sickly insomniacs who seem convinced that he needs their help. It’s not until he’s kidnapped and imprisoned that he starts to believe them—and to understand what being a paranormal monster really means.

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About the Author: Catherine Jinks is the author of The Reformed Vampire Support Group and the Genius trilogy: Evil Genius, Genius Squad, and The Genius Wars. She is a three-time winner of the Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year award, and in 2001 was presented with a Centenary Medal for her contribution to Australian children’s literature. She lives in Leura, Australia.

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By the Same Author: Evil Genius (2005); Genius Squad (2008); and The Genius Wars (2009).

From the Publisher: Fourth grade is a year of changes, challenges, and ordinary joys for India McAllister. She lives in Maine with her artist mom and their dog, Tofu. Her father lives in the next town over with his new partner, Richard and their bird, Beatrice Strawberry. India—named for the ink, not the subcontinent—was adopted from China as a baby. Being the only Chinese girl in her small town fuels India’s search for identity. India reports in her own words and drawings about life, adventures (many with her good friend Colby) and all things annoying as well as what makes her happy. First three on the happy list: Tofu, Bird, and Colby!

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From the Dust Jacket: I’m India McAllister and in fourth grade.

Here’s what I like:

• Tofu. He’s the best dog in the world even if he eats our slippers.

• Colby my best friend. He’s a boy, but half the time, I act more like a boy than he does.

• Bird. Okay, she’s not technically my pet but I still love her.

• Science. It just makes more sense than most things.

Here’s what drives me crazy:

• Amanda the Rodent.

Here’s what I’d like more of:

• Adventures. I haven’t really had any yet, but I’m planning on it!

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About the Author: Charlotte Agell loves the smell of India ink, might have seen a UFO, and knows how music echoes in quarries. The author of the novels Welcome Home or Someplace Like It and Shift, Charlotte writes and teaches in coastal Maine, where she lives with her family.

Eleven-year-old Ellen finds herself wrongly accused of stealing while selling flowers on the Liverpool docks. In her escape she becomes a stowaway aboard a steamship bound for Canada, an unwilling member of a band of orphans headed for new families on the Prairies. Adopted by the Aitkens, a family on a Manitoba homestead, she soon lands herself at the centre of a number of calamities, unexpectedly learning about rural life in the New World and the value of family ties, both those forged in blood and those forged in trust.

From the Dust Jacket: “Something’s alive in there!”

She was just a little girl. With a tiny horn in the center of her forehead, funny-looking feet, beautiful silver hair, and several curious powers: the ability to purify air and water, make plants grow, and heal scars and broken bones.

A trio of grizzled prospectors found her drifting in an escape pod amid the asteroids, adopted her, and took her home to sizzling controversy. Officious bureaucrats wanted to put Acorna in a home and cut off her “deformity.” Ambitious scientists wanted to isolate and study the “unicorn girl.” Which was worse?

Acorna’s rough-and-ready “uncles” weren’t about to hang around long enough to find out. They took their foundling back at knife paint, airlocked out, and ran with her—all the way to the bandit planet Kezdet, where no questions are asked, and a girl might grow up free.

But Kezdet has its own dark secret. The prosperity of the planet is based on an unseen horror—armies of pale, silent children toiling in the factories and mines; unnamed, unseen, and unloved. A hideous trade in child slave labor, administered by the mystery man known as “The Piper.”

The Piper has special plans for Acorna, whose shining horn promises wealth and power. But free little girls have a way of growing into freedom-loving young women. And Lukia, Lady of Light, is about to teach the Piper and his minions a much-needed lesson about honor, liberty—and the precious value of childhood.

Anne McCaffrey’s beloved dragon stories are among the bestselling fantasies of all time. Now McCaffrey has been joined by Margaret Ball to spin a wondrous tale of excitement and drama, that will enchant new readers all over the globe. Acorna is a masterpiece as bold and unusual as its heroine, a tale to delight all who marvel at the transformative power of beauty, and share the empowering love of justice.

Join us now, as Acorna’s quest begins...

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About the Author: Anne McCaffrey is considered one of the world’s leading science fiction writers. She has won the Hugo and Nebula awards as well as six Science Fiction Book Club awards for her novels. Brought up in the United States, she is now living in Ireland with her Maine Coon cats, her piebald mare, and a silver Weimaraner and declines to travel any more. She is best known for her unique Dragonriders of Pern series.

Margaret Ball lives in Austin, Texas with her husband, two children, three cats, two ferrets, a hedgehog, and a large black dog. She has a B.A. in mathematics and a Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of Texas. After graduation, she taught at UCLA and then spent several years honing her science fiction and fantasy skills by designing computer software and making inflated promises about its capacities. Her most recent book publications are Lost in Translation and Mathemagics, both from Baen Books. When not writing, she plays the flute, makes quilts, and feeds the pets.

From the Back Cover: God has just the right place for us all. The four Cooper children—Ethan, Alice, Simon, and Will—seem to have found the place the Lord had for them. They’ve lived with the Rushes for four years now and they are all settled into their new family and home in South Dakota.

Then Chad Rush makes another sudden, unexpected announcement. The family is moving again—to Mexico! Why he wants to move them all to a foreign country that is in the midst of political turmoil, none of the family can quite understand, but Chad Rush is a determined man.

They have many adventures while discovering their new home—some good, others not so good—but through it all, Ethan comes to realize that no matter where he goes, no matter what he does, no matter what troubles he finds, God is with him always.

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About the Author: Arleta Richardson is also the author of the popular Grandma’s Attic series. Her books about Ethan Cooper are based on the true story of a boy who rode the orphan train to a new life in the early 1900s.

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Other Titles in The Orphan’s Journey Series: Looking for Home; Whistle-stop West; and Prairie Homestead.

From the Dust Jacket: “I can blank out people. Wipe them right off the board. Paint over them. Close the book on them. Click, erase, gone. It’s me I’m having trouble escaping.”

Sara Moone has lived in so many foster homes that she has lost track. She can’t wait to turn sixteen so that she can drop out of the system that has hurt her so deeply. Now all she has to do is survive one last placement, but it will be a challenge. She is sent to live with the Huddlestons on their chaotic sheep farm. At first, the family is completely resistible: Hud never talks. Ma talks constantly. The other foster children are hopeless. Nick is a vicious bully and little Josh hangs on to Sara like a leech. And to add to Sara’s worries, there is a strange woman who’s come to town to search for her lost daughter.

Sara wants nothing more than to escape from them all, but that command on her computer suddenly seems to be missing. She soon finds herself drawn into the tragedies and joys of the people around her and finds that a life spent in a shell is no life at all. Ultimately, there is no way to erase the need to love and to be loved.

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About the Author: Julie Johnston’s highly praised novel Hero of Lesser Causes won the Governor General’s Award for Text in Children’s Literature and the National Chapter of Canada IODE Violet Downey Book Award. It was also a Canadian Library Association Young Adult Honour Book and a School Library Journal Best Book. She has also written a number of adult short stories and two award-winning plays. Julie Johnston has four grown daughters and lives in Peterborough, Ontario, with her husband.

Mary and Lewis want to adopt Kate, when they find they will have to take the twins. There is a boy and a girl, they are not to keen on the boy, who is naughty. What will happen to the boy? Will he be ok? Find out in this amazing kids story.

Jennifer is a fifteen-year-old girl who finds out that she is adopted. Will she be able to find her biological parents? About the Author: Sarah Ali is a middle school student at Lexington Universal Academy, a small Islamic school in Lexington Kentucky.

Publisher’s Description: A healthy story of two boys. How one by fostering jealousy in his heart brings much misery upon himself and unhappiness to his parents. A severe lesson clears away the mist, and the story ends in sunshine.

Four twelve-year-old girls who are all adopted from around the world, find friendship in each other. Lilly Lou Locke from Mexico feels like she stands out because of her adoption. She just wants to fit in. Cindy Satcca-Mara from France believes that not being able to speak English has made her life harder than when she was at an orphanage in France. Tei Lyn Terrigon from China is upset that her parents want everything in her life to be Chinese. And Ashley Andrews from South Africa thinks that her parents love her brother Bobby more than her because he is their biological son. These four girls become best friends.

An adopted sixteen-year-old girl matures and finds direction for her future as she searches for and is greatly surprised by the identity of her real parents.

Excerpt: Mrs. Meridith was the heiress of two considerable estates, one of which was in Sussex, on which she was born, and where, at the commencement of this history, she came to reside: her earliest and happiest days of childhood had been spent in the village adjoining, where she was nursed by a respectable farmer’s wife, having had the misfortune to lose her mother, who died in bringing her into the world. Various sorrows, and the loss of an affectionate husband very early in life, made Mrs. Meridith prefer the quiet scenes of the country to the glitter of dissipation, or the more uniform amusements of a provincial town; and on entering Rosewood, the name of her estate, she hoped to lose the remembrance of her distresses, which had hitherto heavily oppressed her, in endeavouring to alleviate those of her tenants and the neighbouring poor. Her father, Mr. Woodville, was a great fox-hunter, and on the death of his wife, which he did not feel so keenly as might be expected from the amiable character she possessed, earnestly entreated Mrs. Campbell, who was the wife of his favourite tenant, to take charge of the helpless infant. He could have wished she had been a boy, as she was his only child; “yet,” said he, “she must be taken care of, though a female, and I will not injure the fortune to which she will be entitled; and by and by, when she is old enough, I shall be glad to see her at the head of my table;” but while she was a baby, he thought if he entrusted her to a careful nurse, such as he was sure Mrs. Campbell would be, it was all that could be required of him. Nor was he desirous of having her in his own house, but perfectly satisfied that she should be removed to the farm, where he could see her as often as he wished. He frequently called on his return from the chace, and repeated his thanks to Mrs. Campbell for her kind attention to his child, earnestly requesting her not to want any thing which his house afforded; but Mr. and Mrs. Campbell were above want, and possessed every comfort which their moderate wishes required, so that, except the allotted stipend which Mr. Woodville engaged to pay, she sought no other recompence, and seldom went to Rosewood, but when its owner was confined by accident or illness, and wished his daughter to be brought to him.

This simple and beautifully illustrated story is about an adopted little boy and his journey through his early years. Sensitive and likable, little Eddie is just like every other kid, eating ice cream and playing ball. At school when he is teased by bullies about being adopted, his mom coaches him through the situation, which ultimately sets the course of his life with personal empowerment. Over time, Eddie feels a strong “void” and becomes curious about his biological parents, which ultimately leads him to find out more. Adopted Ed concludes with a section of famous people who were adopted. About the Author: Darren Maddern is just one of the many millions of adopted people throughout the world today. Born in England, Darren was adopted when he was only 10 days old by Don and Dolly Maddern, an American military couple who were stationed at an American Air Force base just outside of Oxford. After spending three years in England, the Madderns were transferred to Tehran, Iran where they settled for the next five years and where Darren attended first and second grades. When Darren completed second grade, the Madderns were transferred again, this time to Fayetteville, North Carolina. Shortly after arriving in North Carolina, Darren was naturalized as an American citizen. Three years later, the Madderns moved one last time to Colorado, where Darren spent the rest of his formative years. The Madderns made the decision to tell Darren he was adopted at an early age. Like many adoptees, Darren became curious about his birth parents. Sympathetic to the feelings of his adoptive parents, when Darren turned 18, he secretly hired a private investigator to learn the address of his biological grandparents, who were still living in the Oxford area of England. He contacted them through a letter and enclosed a separate letter with the request that it be passed along to his biological mother. Shortly thereafter he received a phone call, and knew immediately who it was from the accent on the other end. This was the first contact with his birth mother. During the emotional phone call, a plan for a reunion was discussed. However, after giving it serious thought Darren just felt he wasn’t emotionally ready. It would be another four years before Darren would make his fateful trip overseas. A 22-year-old more emotionally mature Darren flew back to England to meet both his biological mother and grandparents. The reunion was everything he could have wished for. At 26, Darren found his biological father and went back again to England to meet him. During this visit he discovered he has two half-brothers. To this day, Darren still enjoys a close relationship with his British family. He also had an extremely close relationship with his adoptive parents, who always encouraged his journey through life. Throughout his life, Maddern has been asked about being adopted. Through candidly sharing his story, he’s helped many adoptees, parents of adopted children and parents considering adoption. Adopted Ed is dedicated to both his adopted and biological parents with a special dedication to his mom, Dolly Maddern, who passed away in 2000, and his pops, Don Maddern, who joined her in 2009. It’s also dedicated to every adopted man, woman and child to remind them that they too are indeed—special.

While her parents are away, sickly Dierdre O’Neill stays with Michael Rivers and his sister Ellen on their farm. When her father eventually comes for her, Dierdre is torn between him and her adopted family. Compiler’s Note: While this story description does not precisely fit the traditional adoption narrative, the title prompted its inclusion.

Presents the Bible stories of Joseph, Moses, Samuel, and Esther, all of whom were taken from their natural parents and raised by someone else.

From the Dust Jacket: When Jane, who had lived in the James Ballard Memorial Home ever since she could remember, started out for her first visit with a “real family,” she cautioned herself, “Better not expect anything, and then you won’t be disappointed.” But she could not keep her hopes from soaring. Perhaps this time she would be adopted. Matron Jones, who was a shrewd judge of character, might have said to prospective parents, “Just because Lillie’s got blue eyes and yellow curls is no sign she’s good quality. That thin little girl wich the gray eyes is worth a dozen of Lillie.” But she never did, so Jane stayed on at the Home until the wonderful summer when she had invitations to visit two families for a month each. In telling the story of Jane’s wonderful summer, Miss Daringer has created a real and appealing little girl whose disappointments, hopes and eventual good fortune will be shared with sympathy and enjoyment by young readers. The many black and white illustrations by Kate Seredy catch the full flavor of the early 1900’s.

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About the Author: Helen Fern Daringer (1892-1986) was born in eastern Illinois. Independent and way ahead of her time, Ms. Daringer graduated from Eastern Illinois University, obtained a Masters Degree in English, and headed to New York City, where she became a professor of English literature at Columbia University. Miss Daringer wrote numerous books for children and young adults, including Country Cousin, The Turnabout Twins, and Mary Montgomery, Rebel.

Adopted as an infant, Ben E., a lively, curious polar bear, is beginning to have questions about his adoption. His story begins with a couple deciding to adopt a child and transitions to another couple experiencing an unplanned pregnancy. As Ben E. grows, he begins to feel different because he’s adopted. Then he finds a new friend who’s Adopted Like Me. Written in rhyme, this book is sure to be a bedtime favorite. By the Same Author: Remembering: Reflections of Growing Up Adopted and Raising Our Children’s Children (with Deborah Doucette-Dudman). About the Author: Jeffrey R. LaCure earned his Master’s Degree in Clinical Social Work from Simmons College and his Doctorate in Psychology from California Southern University. He is a Psychologist and a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker. Dr. LaCure is a nationally recognized author and clinician who has appeared on Sally Jessy Raphael, American Baby, WCVB, WBZ, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Elle, and numerous other magazines, television news and radio programs. Dr. LaCure has been a loud and powerful voice in the world of adoption. He has written extensively in the area of adoption and has presented nationally. A nationally recognized leader and expert in adoption, Dr. LaCure is the father of four children and a varsity basketball and softball coach.