Baby, We Were Meant for Each Other: In Praise of Adoption
(Libby/OverDrive eBook, Kindle)

NPR's Weekend Edition host Scott Simon and his wife decided to end their already lengthy fertility treatments, coming to the conclusion that wizardry does not always deliver a pregnancy. His engaging memoir begins with their visit, along with four other couples, to an orphanage in Nanchang, China, where they have come to pick up their daughter Elise, the first of two daughters they adopt from China. Simon's memoir touches on the many threads that make up the whole adoption process from the initial choice to go through an international agency, the endless forms to be filled out, and the exhaustive background checks to their worries about the birth mother, and the doubts over whether or not they are doing the right thing for themselves or for the baby. Simon weaves into his and his wife's experience the adoption stories of friends, including sports commentator and novelist Frank Deford and his wife, who adopt a Filipino baby after their daughter dies of cystic fibrosis. An illuminating, heartwarming account of the many facets of adoption, written with Simon's signature style and wit.--Donovan, Deborah Copyright 2010 Booklist

Simon, host of NPR's Weekend Edition and author (Pretty Birds), shares an entertaining and affecting narrative about his experience adopting two daughters from China and his take on what it means to be a father. While he doesn't go into personal whys and wherefores, he animatedly relates the journey that he and his wife, Caroline Richard, took to parenthood: falling in love with the thumbnail photo of the infant who became their daughter, Elise; meeting her in Nanchang; bringing her home to join a French-Irish-Catholic-Jewish extended family in Chicago; and returning to China to adopt Paulina, their second daughter. Almost a prerequisite in any book about adoption is the question of attachment after abandonment, and Simon nimbly acknowledges and dispels Nancy Verrier's concept (from The Primal Wound: Understanding the Adopted Child) while guiding adoptive parents toward compassionate awareness. Simon's answer to "Can I love someone's else's child as much as my own?" is a resounding "Yes! Yes! At least as much and more!" - which echoes the tone of his lively, openhearted book. This adoptive parenting memoir is a standout among books on the subject, with Simon on the page much the same as Simon on the radio - informative, enlightening, and enjoyable. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

NPR's Weekend Edition host Scott Simon and his wife decided to end their already lengthy fertility treatments, coming to the conclusion that "wizardry does not always deliver" a pregnancy. His engaging memoir begins with their visit, along with four other couples, to an orphanage in Nanchang, China, where they have come to pick up their daughter Elise, the first of two daughters they adopt from China. Simon's memoir touches on the many threads that make up the whole adoption process—from the initial choice to go through an international agency, the endless forms to be filled out, and the exhaustive background checks—to their worries about the birth mother, and the doubts over whether or not they are doing the right thing for themselves or for the baby. Simon weaves into his and his wife's experience the adoption stories of friends, including sports commentator and novelist Frank Deford and his wife, who adopt a Filipino baby after their daughter dies of cystic fibrosis. An illuminating, heartwarming account of the many facets of adoption, written with Simon's signature style and wit. Copyright 2010 Booklist Reviews.

No, not a how-to (so many of those) but a chronicle of what adopting and being adopted has meant to a range of people, like Freakonomics author Steve Levitt, who has two adopted Chinese daughters. Simon, himself an adoptive dad, is NPR's Weekend Edition host and a respected author. You know this will get NPR play, and the personal insight into an ever more prominent phenomenon adds interest. Copyright 2010 Reed Business Information.

The award-winning host of NPR's Weekend Edition, Simon here shares the moving story of how he and his wife adopted two daughters from China. With the wit and grace we have come to expect from him ("There are times when the adoption process is exhausting and painful and makes you want to scream. But, I am told, so does childbirth"), he makes a cogent case for the "natural order" of adoption. In addition to his own story, he recounts those of other parents who have adopted and includes quotes from adopted children themselves. Beautiful and heartwarming, but with the earned sophistication of one who knows, Simon's book should transcend the child-care market and be treasured by any parent, adoptee, or lover of literary form. Recommend this for a multitude of readers, and if it should find its way back to the shelf, pull it off again for prominent display.—Julianne J. Smith, "Parenting Short Takes," BookSmack! 8/19/10 (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Simon, host of NPR's Weekend Edition and author (Pretty Birds), shares an entertaining and affecting narrative about his experience of adopting two daughters from China and his take on what it means to be a father. While he doesn't go into personal whys and wherefores, he animatedly relates the journey that he and his wife, Caroline Richard, took to parenthood: falling in love with the thumbnail photo of the infant who became their daughter, Elise; meeting her in Nanchang; bringing her home to join a French-Irish-Catholic-Jewish extended family in Chicago; and returning to China to adopt Paulina, their second daughter. Almost a prerequisite in any book about adoption is the question of attachment after abandonment, and Simon nimbly acknowledges and dispels Nancy Verrier's concept (from The Primal Wound: Understanding the Adopted Child) while guiding adoptive parents toward compassionate awareness. Simon's answer to "Can I love someone's else's child as much as my own?" is a resounding "Yes! Yes! At least as much and more!" – which echoes the tone of his lively, openhearted book. This adoptive parenting memoir is a standout among books on the subject, with Simon on the page much the same as Simon on the radio – informative, enlightening, and enjoyable. (Sept.)