Wendy Woodfill recommends a reading list involving adoption stories. These books are suggested for older readers. This list is a mix of contemporary, historical, nonfiction, and fantasy fiction.
All the Broken Pieces

All the Broken Pieces: A Novel in Verse
Written by Ann E. Burg
Ages 10 – 14

Two years after being airlifted out of Vietnam in 1975, Matt Pin is haunted by the terrible secret he left behind and, now, in a loving adoptive home in the United States, a series of profound events forces him to confront his past.
Found

Found
Written by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Ages 10 -14

When thirteen-year-olds Jonah and Chip, who are both adopted, learn they were discovered on a plane that appeared out of nowhere, full of babies with no adults on board, they realize that they have uncovered a mystery involving time travel and two opposing forces, each trying to repair the fabric of time.
Kimchi & Calamari

Kimchi and Calamari
Written by Rose Kent
Ages 10-14

Adopted from Korea by Italian parents, fourteen-year-old Joseph Calderaro begins to make important self-discoveries about race and family after his social studies teacher assigns an essay on cultural heritage and tracing the past.
Safe at Home

Safe at Home: A Comback Kids Novel
Written by Mike Lupica
Ages 9-13

Playing baseball was the one thing that made twelve-year-old Nick Crandall feel at home until he found acceptance with adoptive parents, but he faces a new struggle to fit in when he becomes the first seventh-grader ever to make the varsity baseball team.
Secret Life of Maeve Lee Kwong

Secret life of Maeve Lee Kwong
Written by Kiristy Murray
Ages 9-13

Sent to live with her strict Chinese grandparents, and uncertain of her future and where she belongs, Maeve fights to cling to her earlier life and find her own true self.
Slant

Slant
Written by Laura E. Williams
Ages 10 – 14

Thirteen year old Lauren, a Korean American adoptee, is tired of being called ‘slant’ and ‘gook’ and longs to have plastic surgery on her eyes. When her father hears about her wish, he tells Lauren about a painful family secret that changes the way Lauren views herself.
Trophy Kid: Or How I was Adopted by the Rich & Famous

Trophy Kid: Or How I Was Adopted by the Rich & Famous
Written by Steve Atinsky
Ages 10 -14

Since his much-publicized adoption at age three by American movie stars, thirteen-year-old Josef's carefully scripted public life has hidden the isolation he feels at home, but writing a book with a ghostwriter reveals much about his adoptive family and the one he lost during the war in Croatia.
Dillon Dillon

Dillon Dillon
written by Kate Banks
Ages 9-12

During the summer that he turns ten years old, Dillon Dillon learns the surprising story behind his name and develops a relationship with three loons living on the lake near his family’s New Hampshire cabin, that help him make sense of his life. 

Here's a Penny

Here's a Penny
written by Carolyn Haywood
Ages 8-10

Six-year-old William, nicknamed Penny for his copper colored hair, attends a Halloween party, adopts kittens, and finds an older brother to join his adopted family. 

Heaven

Heaven
written by Angela Johnson
Ages 12-15

Fourteen-year-old Marley’s seemingly perfect life in the small town of Heaven is disrupted when she discovers that her mother and father area not her real parents. 
Saffy's Angel

Saffy's Angel
written by Hilary McKay
Ages 10-14

After learning that she was adopted, thirteen-year-old Saffron’s relationship with her eccentric artistic family changes, until they help her go back to Italy where she was born to find a special momento of her past. 

Anne of Green Gables

Anne of Green Gables
written by L.M. Montgomery
Ages 8-14

Anne, an eleven-year-old orphan, is sent by mistake to live with a lonely middle-aged brother and sister on a Prince Edward Island farm and proceeds to make an indelible impression on everyone she meets. 

Me, Mop, and the Moondance Kid

Me, Mop, and the Moondance Kid
written by Walter Dean Myers
Ages 8-12

Although adoption has taken them out of the institution where they grew up, eleven-year-old T. J. and his younger brother Moondance remain involved with their friend Mop’s relentless attempts to become adopted herself. 

Mister Monday

Mister Monday
written by Garth Nix
Ages 9-13

Although Arthur Penhaligon, an adoptee, is supposed to die an early death, he is saved by a key shaped like the minute hand of a clock, and now some bizarre creatures--including Mister Monday, his avenging messengers, and an army of dog-faced Fetchers--will stop at nothing to get the key back. 

In the Face of Danger

In the Face of Danger
written by Joan Lowery Nixon
Ages 8-12

Deeply unhappy about her family’s separation because of poverty, Megan gradually finds contentment and purpose in her new home on the Kansas prairie with a kind and loving adopted family. 

Escape from Fear

Escape from Fear
written by Gloria Skurzynski
Ages 10-14

While at St. John National Pak in the Virgin Islands for a seminar on coral reefs, the Landons help a wealthy thirteen-year-old to find his birth mother, who he believes is in great danger. 

Beyond the Deep Woods

Beyond the Deep Woods
written by Paul Stewart
Ages 9-14

After learning that he is adopted thirteen-year-old Twig leaves the safety of the Deepwoods, where he lives among the Woodtrolls, to discover his true heritage and along the way encounters some unforgettable, and dangerous, characters.  

Ballet Shoes

Ballet Shoes
written by Noel Streatfeild
Ages 8-12

Determined to make a name for themselves, three adopted sisters living in London train for the ballet and the stage and in the process discover that each has a special talent.  

Escape from Sagion

Escape from Saigon :  how a Vietnam War orphan became an American boy
written by Andrea Warren
Ages 10-14

The experiences of an orphaned Amerasian boy from his birth and early childhood in Saigon through his departure from Vietnam in the 1975 Operation Babylift, and his subsequent life as the adopted son of an American family in Ohio are chronicled in this nonfiction book.

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