Connecting with other adoptive parents ranks as my favorite outcome from writing Mamalita: An Adoption Memoir. Instantly, we launch into our stories, using a shorthand we each understand.
So it happened last January, when I read from Mamalita at Collected Works Bookstore in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In the audience sat Dina McQueen, adoptive mom to a daughter named Aster, born in Ethiopia. As we chatted I learned Dina also had authored a book about her journey to motherhood. Finding Aster: an Ethiopian adoption story was published in February by Inkwater Press. Naturally, I bought a copy, and quickly read the compelling tale. True, I knew the book’s ending, but still, I found it hard to put down.
Since then, Dina and I have discovered we share a deep commitment to adoption, and to writing and thinking about adoption. In addition, we both love reading to our children. In a recent blog post, Dina compiled a list of her favorite Children’s Books for Multi-Ethnic Families; from it, I gleaned a few new titles I didn’t know about, which I plan to add to our family library. Check out Dina’s list and Dina’s book, too. You’ll enjoy both.
ShareThisTags: adoption from Ethiopia, adoptive families, Dina McQueen, Finding Aster: An Ethiopian adoption story, Inkwater Press, international adoption, Mamalita: An Adoption Memoir
Thank you for this! Very excited to read more about Dina and her writing, but am super excited to check out her book list! We’re always on the look out for diversity in our reading!!
We are, too! Dina also links to the Association of MultiEthnic Americans site, which itself posts a great list. Click on Book Reviews and scroll down to Children’s to find more suggestions.