SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About TLT
  • Reviews
    • Book Reviews
    • A to Z Book Lists
    • Book Review Policy
  • Teen Issues
  • Middle Grade Mondays
  • Programs
    • TPiB
    • Tech Talk
  • Professional
    • Teen Services 101
    • Things We Didn’t Learn in Library School
  • MakerSpace
  • Projects
    • #SVYALit
    • #FSYALit
    • #MHYALit
    • #Poverty in YA Lit

January 10, 2018 by Karen Jensen, MLS

YA A to Z: Adoption Books – Being Discussed, Being Seen, a guest post by Eric Smith

January 10, 2018 by Karen Jensen, MLS   6 comments

It’s the second week of January, which means we’re discussing the Letter A in YA A to Z. Today we are talking about adoption with the amazing literary agent and writer Eric Smith.

You can find out more about YA A to Z here.

yaatoz

There’s this look.

It’s hard to explain. I’ve never seen myself do it. Sometimes I feel it though. The way my brow furrows, my mouth tightens. I imagine my lips look like they are forming a straight line, like an emoji. It’ll happen, and my wife or my friends who are nearby will sharing a knowing smile.

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Someone got adoption wrong again, and everyone is looking at me to see how I’ll react.

I see it all the time. Sometimes its in a book, or something on television, or in one of the many, many Lifetime movies I watch with my wife. You can tell, in that moment, when the writers have no idea what it feels like. What the real questions are. What the real struggle is.

welcome home

But there’s this other look. It’s an expression I keep inside. One that hits me and leaves me quiet and awestruck. My heart swells and I feel that warmth in my chest, as my eyes tear up.

When someone gets it so right.

When they see me.

Six Common Issues Faced by Adopted Adolescents – Adoptive Families

There’s a difference, you know. Between being used as a plot device, and having someone understand your story. Between being discussed and being seen.

Last year, for me, was a year of feeling seen.

Adoption – KidsHealth

I was lucky enough to publish Welcome Home, a Young Adult anthology full of adoption-themed stories from a wide array of contributors, with Flux. When my amazing agent was pitching the project around, a lot of the feedback we got from editors was along the lines of it being “too niche” or “a narrow hook.”

When over a hundred thousand kids are adopted each year in the United States alone, and four times that in the foster care system… that’s a pretty devastating piece of feedback to hear. Because the feedback suddenly isn’t about the book anymore. It’s about you.

You’re being discussed. You’re not being seen.

Adoption in YA Lit – The Hub – American Library Association

Every agent and editor and person in the publishing world will tell you not to take things personally like that, as a writer. It’s all subjective. This didn’t feel that way.

But, the book was picked up. And my goodness, am I endlessly thankful. Last year brought with it many of those quiet moments of awe. Of being seen. Not just because of my little book, but because of what I kept seeing in the world of books and art.

3 On A YA Theme: Adoption – Book Riot

My wife and I started watching This Is Us, a television series that prominently features a trans-racial adoptee who wrestles with his identity and his past. Someone like me. Novels like You Don’t Know Me But I Know You by Rebecca Barrow and The Leavers by Lisa Ko were published, stunning stories of adoption in the world of YA and adult literary fiction. I re-read Autofocus by Lauren Gibaldi and the powerful See No Color by Shannon Gibney.

farfromthetree

And my goodness, Far from the Tree by Robin Benway won the National Book Award. A YA novel about adoption won the National Book Award. I felt my heart wrench in my chest when I saw the celebrations on social media for that beautiful book. A novel that made me feel seen.

A book I wish I had as a teenager growing up.

All this art, all these words and images and stories… they all came at a time when my wife and I were getting ready, as best we could, for the birth of our first child. It’s an odd thing, promoting your book about adoption, with a number of people touched by adoption, right after your first blood relative in welcomed into the world.

10 Things Adoptees Want You to Know | HuffPost

This summer, my first in-print YA novel will be out in the world. The Girl and the Grove. It’s the story of an adopted teenager who finds her biological mother in a hidden patch of woods in Philadelphia’s largest city park… only to discover she might be a magical creature of myth. It’s a story about those “what ifs” that adopted kids think about it, and hold secret in their hearts. It took years to write.

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

I hope it can live up to some of the great adoption stories that have been coming out, and the ones we’re going to see this year. Like Nicole Chung’s All You Can Ever Know, a memoir I am thirsting for, by one of my favorite essayists writing today.

I hope the story resonates with you, the way the short stories in Welcome Home hit me. How last year’s stories by Rebecca Darrow and Robin Benway broke my heart and gave me hope. I want those novels that came out last year, those books that won awards, to leave you feeling like a main character in your life story, and not just a device. Not a human MacGuffin meant to drive a plot.

Because you’re more than what bad stories have told you. You’re what the good stories have shown you.

That you deserve to be seen.

And I see you.

Meet Eric Smith

ericsmith

Bio: Eric Smith is a literary agent and Young Adult author from New Jersey. His books include the Inked series (Bloomsbury) and the forthcoming novel The Girl & The Grove (Flux). He edited the adoption-themed YA anthology Welcome Home (Flux), and can be found talking about YA on Book Riot’s HEY YA podcast with Kelly Jensen. He lives in Ann Arbor with his wife, son, and corgi.

About Welcome Home

Welcome Home collects a number of adoption-themed fictional short stories, and brings them together in one anthology from a diverse range of celebrated Young Adult authors. The all-star roster includes Edgar-award winner Mindy McGinnis, New York Times bestselling authors C.J. Redwine (The Shadow Queen) and William Ritter (Jackaby), and acclaimed YA authors across all genres, like Adi Alsaid, Lauren Gibaldi, Sangu Mandanna, Karen Akins, and many more. (Flux, 2017)

Filed under: #YAAtoZ

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments
AdoptionEric SmithTeen IssuesWelcome Home

About Karen Jensen, MLS

Karen Jensen has been a Teen Services Librarian for almost 30 years. She created TLT in 2011 and is the co-editor of The Whole Library Handbook: Teen Services with Heather Booth (ALA Editions, 2014).

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

October 2018

YA A to Z: R is for Classic Retellings, a list curated by Natalie Korsavidis

by Karen Jensen, MLS

September 2018

The American Opioid Crisis in YA Literature

by Karen Jensen, MLS

August 2018

YA A to Z: Peace and Quiet - Recharging Your Battery After Summer Reading, a guest post by librarian Lisa Krok

by Karen Jensen, MLS

July 2018

YA A to Z: F is for Female Friendship

by Karen Jensen, MLS

July 2018

YA A to Z: O is for Outsider, a guest post by author Kirstin Cronn-Mills

by Karen Jensen, MLS

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

Notes on January 2023

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

Jump Into this Guest Post by Shadra Strickland About Her Latest Book: Jump In!

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

The Archie Encyclopedia | Review

by J. Caleb Mozzocco

Heavy Medal

FREEWATER wins the Newbery Medal, live reactions from Heavy Medal bloggers

by Emily Mroczek-Bayci

Teen Librarian Toolbox

Cindy Crushes Programming: My Top Ten Craft Supplies

by Cindy Shutts

The Classroom Bookshelf

The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving

by Erika Thulin Dawes

The Yarn

A Book 25 Years in the Making: Marla Frazee Visits The Yarn

by Travis Jonker

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

Hand These to Kids Needing a Boost for the First Day Blues| Back-to-School Roundup Reviews

What Are Your Banned Books Week Plans This Year?

Introducing The Book Club by Albert Whitman Media

28 Picture Book Picks by BIPOC Creators | We Are Kid Lit Collective

13 Hard-Hitting Nonfiction, Immersive Poetry, and Magnetic Thrillers for Teens | We Are Kid Lit Collective

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Scott Martin-Rowe says

    January 10, 2018 at 9:07 pm

    I’m so glad you wrote this. I’ve been fuming over the “he’s adopted” punchline in the new NBC series APBio. I’m planning to make a bigger fuss about it. As the father of two wonderful kids adopted out of the foster care system, I’ve become more and more aware of the stigma that surrounds adoption even today. My oldest is only 6, but I’m already stocking up on YA books that featured adopted characters (it’s hard enough finding picture books with black characters simply being human and not books about being black, though we have those as well). Thanks for writing this.

  2. Paulette Sharkey says

    January 11, 2018 at 7:49 am

    Thank you for this post, Eric. I am an adoptive parent and have read some of the YA books you list. I’m always trying to better understand what it feels like to be adopted.

    Can you recommend good adoption books for younger readers? Most of the ones I’ve seen are upbeat, “chosen child” treatments, with no mention of birthparents and loss.

    • Kristin says

      March 13, 2018 at 12:23 pm

      “Forever or a Long, Long Time” by Caela Carter is a middle grade novel that centers on the experience of adoptees beautifully.

      Last year I searched through all the adoption-focused picture books I could get my hands on and I was unhappy with most for the way the narrative was centered on the joy brought to the adoptive parents, reinforcing the pressure many of us adoptees feel to make our parents happy (be good!), and often ignoring the existence of the original parents altogether. Some titles that were a bit better include:
      Brodzinsky, Anne Braff. The Mulberry Bird
      Nemiroff, Marc and Jane Annunziata. All About Adoption: How Families Are Made & How Kids Feel About It.
      Friedman, Darlene. Star of the Week: A Story of Love, Adoption, and Brownies with Sprinkles.
      Mother Bridge of Love. Motherbridge of Love

  3. Deanna @ A Novel Glimpse says

    January 12, 2018 at 12:42 am

    I am an adoptee and I also wish there had been YA novels about adoptees when I was a teenager. I haven’t read Benway’s novel yet, but I have it and can’t wait to get started on it now. Thanks for shining light on the subject.

  4. Brittany Pines says

    March 13, 2018 at 4:23 pm

    Thank you for sharing, and I will definitely check out Welcome Home. My husband & I are in the process of being licensed for foster care/adoption and it’s been hard to find books about it.

  5. Teri Love says

    March 16, 2018 at 8:55 am

    Thank you for this post – I’m adding your two books to my Goodreads “To Read” list, along with other titles you mention. I recently found my birth parents and suddenly my own story has broadened- I am craving others’ stories and perspectives. Can’t wait to read! I’m not a YA anymore but it will be good to know and promote these books!

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

Follow This Blog

Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

Primary Sidebar

  • News & Features
  • Reviews+
  • Technology
  • School Libraries
  • Public Libraries
  • Age Level
  • Ideas
  • Blogs
  • Classroom
  • Diversity
  • People
  • Job Zone

Reviews+

  • Book Lists
  • Best Books
  • Media
  • Reference
  • Series Made Simple
  • Tech
  • Review for SLJ
  • Review Submissions

SLJ Blog Network

  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal
  • Neverending Search
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn

Resources

  • 2022 Youth Media Awards
  • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
  • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
  • Summer Reading 2021
  • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
  • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
  • Summer Programming Survey
  • Research
  • White Papers / Case Studies
  • School Librarian of the Year
  • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
  • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

Events & PD

  • In-Person Events
  • Online Courses
  • Virtual Events
  • Webcasts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Media Inquiries
  • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Content Submissions
  • Data Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Terms of Sale
  • FAQs
  • Diversity Policy
  • Careers at MSI


COPYRIGHT © 2023


COPYRIGHT © 2023