Metropolitan Library System

At the age of four, because of the Easter bombings in May 1941, we were bombed out of our beautiful home and evacuated to a farm thirty miles north of Belfast, Northern Ireland. A year or so later, we returned and lived in a very deprived area in the city. My father, an old soldier, was an alcoholic who smoked in the region of a thousand cigarettes a week, so, the cupboards were bare and family life broke down. My mother had little or no money for...

A New York Times Notable Book that “casts a searing eye on the labyrinth that is the American foster care system” (NPR’s On Point).
 
Who are the children of foster care? What, as a country, do we owe them? Cris Beam, a foster mother herself, spent five years immersed in the world of foster care looking into these questions and tracing firsthand stories. The result is To the End of June, an unforgettable...

A new authorial voice relaying true stories that are likely to both horrify you and make you laugh out loud. Events and conversations are told with pace, humour and humanity as the author shares with you her memories of the situations she has lovingly endured while at the mercy of her numerous foster boys. It is heart warming, heart breaking and heartfelt in equal measures. It is a memoir of sorts but it is definitely not a misery memoir. C.E.A....

A masterfully condensed true story spanning a half-century about the incredible power of adoption through the eyes of a man, who was, adopted, gave up a son for adoption, and later adopted a son of his own.

Twelve years into her marriage, Darlene realized that she wanted a child. At age forty, things weren't going to be that easy. In this humorous, warm and poignant book, Darlene decides that the most sensible option left to her is adoption. Through narrativ

"First comes love. Then comes marriage. Then comes the baby in the baby carriage." It was time this old nursery rhyme got an update. Struggling with infertility opened Jaimie's eyes to another world where families were made in many ways. First there was me. Then there was the journey-to you.

"You must be adopted you don't look like anyone else in your family." Have you ever wondered who you really are? Have you ever had a deep knowing in your gut that your family was lying to you? I did. I always felt that the man that I was told was my father was not really my dad. What I felt did not match what I was told. And so, I set off on a journey in search of the truth. These are the deck recollections of decades of looking. Looking for a family,...

This is the story of Catherine Hilton, a mother struggling with substance addiction and domestic violence at the hands of her boyfriend, Victor Sinclair. When Catherine's home is investigated, Child Protective Services (CPS) intervenes, Victor is sent to prison, and she loses her children to the foster care system. Determined to turn her life around and regain custody, Catherine seeks rehabilitation. For a while, everything seems to be moving in a...

The girl sat still for a few seconds. Kate could hear the sound of the fruit juice being drained through the straw, and the girl's chest heaved once inside the curl of Kate's arm. Then, quick as a young frisky cub, she spun and threw her arms around Kate's neck. Tears were streaming down her cheeks and her face was contorted with the effort not to cry. She nuzzled awkwardly against Kate and kissed her over and over with little pecks that covered her...

A Stirring Memoir on Parenthood and the Invisible Threads that Bind Us to Those We Are Meant to Love The obstacles, surprises, and moments of grace that Jennifer Grant experienced, working through the adoption process to bring home her daughter from Guatemala, forever changed her life. Love You More tells Grant's deeply personal story of adopting her daughter, Mia. The process confronted her notions about what family means, pushed her into uncomfortable...