BOOKS

AN-YA PROJECT’S BOOKS

Dear Wonderful You, Letters to Adopted & Fostered Youth

Edited by Diane René Christian & Mei-Mei Akwai Ellerman, PhD

(November 1^st, 2014)

Dear Wonderful You, Letters to Adopted & Fostered Youthis a powerful book filled with thoughtful and inspiring letters. This anthology was written by a global community of adult adoptees and adults who were fostered. Each letter was penned to the upcoming generation of adopted and fostered youth. 

The mission of Dear Wonderful You is for all adopted or fostered youth to feel embraced and guided by the incredible letters contained inside. The writers’ want every young reader to know they have a network of support who “get it,” “get them,” and have been in their shoes. 

CONTRIBUTORS

JoAnne Bennett, Thomas Park Clement, Brenda M. Cotter, Charlotte Cotter, Laura Dennis,

Peter Dodds, Mei-Mei Akwai Ellerman, PhD,  Ming Foxweldon, Suzanne Gilbert, Rosita Gonzalez

Lynn Grubb, Lee Herrick, Soojung Jo, Jeff Leinaweaver, PhD, J.S. London, Dan Matthews

Dr. Joyce Maguire Pavao, Kaye S. Pearse, Karen Pickell, Jasmine Renee, Matthew Salesses, Liz Semons, Lucy Chau Lai-Tuen, May Silverstein, Joe Soll, LCSW, Julie Stromberg,   Amanda H.L. Transue-Woolston, Angela Tucker

PERPETUAL CHILD: ADULT ADOPTEE ANTHOLOGY,

DISMANTLING THE STEREOTYPE   (2013)

"The Perpetual Child: Adult Adoptee Anthology features a collection of stories, poetry, and essays aimed at confronting the "perpetual child stereotype" faced by adult adoptees. The pieces contained within this anthology will implore readers to look deeply into their own ideas about what it means to be adopted and to empathize with the experience of being viewed as a child into adulthood."

Co-Editors: Diane René Christian & Amanda H.L. Transue-Woolston

MEI-MEI AKWAI ELLERMAN... Dedication

AMANDA H.L. TRANSUE-WOOLSTON... Discovering my Imposed Age & the Effects of the Institutionalization of Perpetual Children

NICKY SA-EUN SCHILDKRAUT... Everyone Loves an Orphan

LYNN GRUBB... Mother May I?

KAREN PICKEL... The Letter

CATANA TULLY...  Excerpts from Split at the Root: A Memoir of Love and Lost Identity

LUCY SHEEN... Musings of a Transracial Adoptee

LAURA DENNIS... Question Everything, Including Adoption

JULIE STROMBERG... Let’s Pretend

LEE HERRICK... Salvation

MATTHEW SALESSES... The Powers That Beast

JENIIFER BAO YU ‘PRECIOUS JADE’ JUE-STEUCK... Swinging the Balance of the Universe: Memories, Mantras & Musings on the Mixed-Blessings of the Iconic Myth of ‘The Perpetual Child’ in Adoption

MEI-MEI AKWAI ELLERMAN... Coming Full Circle

ANGELA TUCKER...Should Adoptees be Consider a Gift?

APRIL TOPFER... Initiatory Conceptions of the Adopted Individual’s Perpetual Child along the Adoption Path

Contributor Biographies

AN-YA AND HER DIARY: READER & PARENT GUIDE (2012)

An-Ya and Her Diary: Reader & Parent Guide is a ground breaking collaborative work and the first of its kind to be published under the AN-YA Project. Inside you will find the wisdom and artistry of adoptee professionals who discuss all aspects of the novel An-Ya and Her Diary. Included are lessons on how to lead an adoption discussion, how a parent can use the novel to emotionally guide their child through the book, as well as writers who eloquently express their own complex journeys as adoptees. 

STEPHANIE KRIPA COOPER-LEWTER, PH.D., L.M.S.W... Dedication

AMANDA H.L. TRANSUE-WOOLSTON, BSW... Foreward

LEE HERRICK...  Spectral Questions of the Body

JENNIFER BAO YU ‘PRECIOUS JADE’ JUE-STEUCK... General Discussion Questions for Reading Groups

JENNIFER BAO YU ‘PRECIOUS JADE’ JUE-STEUCK... Guide to Leading an Adoption Discussion

SUSAN BRANCO ALVARADO, MA ED, LBC... Parent Discussion Guide

MATTHEW SALESSES... Fear of Adoptees: Essay

YOUNG READERS... Reflections on An-Ya and Her Diary

PHOEBE PEACHMENT & SABRINA ORLINS... Interview with author Diane René Christian

Contributor Biographies