I belong to a writing group, the Write On Mamas, and for our website, members were asked to review our favorite books of 2015. I chose Amy Seek’s God and Jetfire: Confessions of a Birth Mother. If you’re a NY Times subscriber, you know an essay Seek wrote, “Open Adoption: Not So Simple Math,” was just posted on the Times’ podcast. The podcast reminded me of my review, which I’ll share here, in case you’re looking for a book to read.

MY REVIEW: “The best book I read this year was a memoir written by an architect about when she became pregnant in college at age 22 and placed her newborn with another family in an open adoption. ‘God and Jetfire: Confessions of a Birth Mother‘ by Amy Seek is a beautifully rendered, raw account that only could have been written by someone who lived it.

The book begins with the moment Seek first learns she’s pregnant with baby Jonathan and ends ten years later, with Seek successfully designing spaces while Jonathan grows into the smart, handsome son of another mother. Seek captures the complexity of adoption—why she chose it, and why she regrets it; and how she can’t imagine keeping both her son and the life she cherishes.

On a technical level, every one of Seek’s sentences is descriptive and evocative, without being self-consciously florid. Often while reading, I paused to admire the language. I’m an adoptive mother myself who reads many books on this subject. Amy Seek’s ‘God and Jetfire‘ is a stand-out.”

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