Chicken Soup for the Adopted Soul: Stories Celebrating Forever Families (Chicken Soup for the Soul)
Chicken Soup for the Adopted Soul: Stories Celebrating Forever Families (Chicken Soup for the Soul)
Chicken Soup for the Adopted Soul will touch your heart with stories of finding and creating families. From tales about international orphaned babies and children who spent years in the foster-care system to those who were adopted at birth, this very special compilation conveys the true meaning of unconditional love.
Read a moving letter from a birth mother to her son explaining how difficult it was to give him up when she didn’t have the means to care for him, how she still thinks about him often, and how she will always love him. Read stories from now-grown children and even those from the Vietnam Operation Babylift in 1975. Through their stories, you will delight in meeting happy, well-adjusted, grateful members of families and society.
Find hope in stories of infertile couples who are given the gift of parenthood, adopted children who thrive and find joy in life, and older couples given a second chance at family. Chicken Soup for the Adopted Soul provides insight into what adoption is all about and what it’s really like to be adopted. Share in our celebration of the lives of adopted children who found forever families and parents who found forever love.
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars Chicken soup indeed
Touching in so many ways… it brings tears of sorrow and joy. I really got a better understanding of the whole issue and how those who offer their children what they consider a better existence and those who get adopted feel. Truly outstanding writing makes this book a good purchase.
2 Stars Very religious and mostly about adopting babies
As a expecting parent waiting to adopt through the foster care system, I was really looking forward to reading this book, but I was very disappointed with it. The stories are certainly nice to read, but many of them were written by folks who had a religious calling to adopt, and who went on to adopt infants or very young children. A lot of the stories can be summarized as follows: 1) Mom and Dad feel that God is telling them to adopt; 2) God leads them to the “ideal” child (usually a baby); 3) God eliminates obstacles; and 4) the family lives happily ever after. I am truly happy for the families in this book for whom everything seemed predetermined, but many people do not approach adoption as a religious calling. Also, many of the stories in this book seem to perpetuate the myth that most parents adopt infants and young children. Right now, there are about 120,000 children in the foster care system in this country who are available for adoption, and most are between the ages of 8 and 12, with a large number of teens who may never have a family because of their age. I am saddened and angered that these children, many of whom live in our own neighborhoods, are given so little of a voice in this book. Adopting an older child who has been the victim of abuse, neglect, and multiple losses may not fit the peaches-and-cream tone of this book, however many of these kids and their new families face the demons, climb the mountains, and thrive. Perhaps their stories aren’t included because they aren’t the somewhat sanitized, Disneyland image of adoption that this book portrays. This is truly a shame, because the the stories of families who create love, hope and a future from years of fear, rejection, hurt, distrust, and anger are TRULY “chicken soup for the soul.”
5 Stars A touching story
Chicken Soup for the Adopted Soul is a warm and touching read across a wide spectrum of people and unique and touching situations. “It Was You” on page 308, was the story of the culmination of a very long search for Ana Hay’s birth mother as she lay in critical condition in a hospital in Duluth. Ana’s portrayal of the day’s events and the very first communication with her birth mother are gripping and certainly provide a lot of questions for the reader, as well.
5 Stars I’m a contributor, so this might be biased.
I contributed two pieces to this project and I am proud of them. I’ve contributed to another Chicken Soup book as well, but I did not review that one. Why am I reviewing this one? The contributions are wonderful. I read the book through on the day I received it and love it. I marked many stories to share with my children, who, like me, are adopted. Yes, it contains my eldest son’s adoption story, but it also is helping me deal with issues I still have and did not think were there. Reading the common threads that run through these stories, the pain, the joy, the healing has really struck a chord in my heart I did not know I had. It’s a wonderful read.
5 Stars Chicken Soup for the Adopted Soul
If the rest of the stories are as touching and emotional as “It Was You” by Ana Hays then I look forward to reading the entire book with interest.
“It Was You” touched my soul and reminded me of the joys and sorrows of life. It make me cry.
Filed under: Jack Canfield Book Reviews