The Marvelous Journey Home - Hardcover

Simmons, John M

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0972591613 ISBN 13: 9780972591614

Publisher: White Knight Printing and Publishing, 2007

Synopsis

Fictional novel based on the actual experiences of the author and his family's journey through the Russian adoption process. The story is not only engaging and inspiring but also informs readers of the struggles many people face with international adoptions. The Marvelous Journey Home is the perfect blend of realism and invention. The reader is given unique insight into the perspectives of several players in the adoption process including adoptive parents, the children and adoption officials and supervisors. The story also carefully touches on another journey elusive to many, the journey of death. The author makes an enlightening association between the two journeys to help the reader better understand and accept death.

About this title

From the Back Cover

The Marvelous Journey Home tells the remarkable story
of parents and children coming together. This story, based on actual
events, takes the reader through a rollercoaster of emotions as parents
seek their child, who longs for the chance to have a family and travel home
to a faraway place. With scenes situated from orphanages in small, remote
Russian villages, to Moscow, and finally on to America, "the fairytale
land," the reader is taken on a journey around the world, home again, and
eventually, even far beyond. Filled with hope and disappointment, love and
loss, happiness and despair, The Marvelous Journey Home draws the
reader along by the heartstrings to an unexpected destination. Home is
found in distant places, peace is found in unlikely circumstances, and
family is always what matters most.

From the Inside Flap

"Those who have experienced the rollercoaster of
international adoption, as have my wife and I, will relate readily to this
heartwarming novel, but all who love children and value family ties will
find The Marvelous Journey Home an inspirational read."



Richard Paul Evans

#1 New York Times Bestselling Author

"An insightful and heart rendering story, The Marvelous Journey
Home starts in a Russian orphanage and follows the story of two
children who are given a new family and a new life in far-away America. The
journey is portrayed through the eyes of the children as well as the new
parents. An adoptive parent himself, the author does not sugar coat the
real and sometimes difficult challenges of adoption, but also inspires
readers with the amazing rewards of giving a family to a child."

"As someone who has worked in the field of international adoption for
28 years, I have seldom read anything that so poignantly tells the story of
orphanage life and adoption from the perspective of both children and
parents. It's a "must read" for anyone adopting an older child and a
"should read" for anyone who loves a gripping and heartwarming story about
strangers who become a family."



Vicki Peterson

Executive Director of External Affairs

Wide Horizons For Children, Inc.

"...although I am not a religious person and honestly, do not know if I
am a believer or not, after reading this book, I feel much more comfortable
with my thoughts on death and dying. For many, many years, I have struggled
with the `what if's,' where death is concerned. I finally have something
that allows me to feel "okay" about what happens..."

"Dealing with the death of loved ones is a trial we all face sooner or
later. In The Marvelous Journey Home, death and dying are only a
side story to the main theme of adoption. Or are they? Is the struggle of
international adoption, of a loving father tenderly but firmly taking a
child from the only life she's ever known, a metaphor for the experience of
death? Author John Simmons enlightens the darkest corners of our fear,
showing us that we all have a tender, loving Father who wants to guide us
on our own marvelous journey home."



Cheryl Blacklock

Executive Director of the
Mental Health Association in Niagara County

"Simmons not only guides the reader through emotions that parents feel
in the adoption process, but also allows us to see this process through the
eyes of a child. The Marvelous Journey Home is an inspirational
read."



Marie Osmond

Entertainer, Business Entrepreneur,

Philanthropist and Author

"From the extremes of abandonment, loneliness, and despair to the
exquisite joy of joining a "forever family," The Marvelous Journey
Home takes the reader on a rollercoaster ride of emotions while
delivering a powerful finale."



Penny L. Rearick, MSW, LCSW

Executive Director

Adoption Resource Center of Connecticut, Inc.

"An inspirational story of childhood innocence and hope overcoming the
cynicism and despair of the real world, The Marvelous Journey Home
leaves the reader anxious to do something - anything - to make the world a
better place, if only in their own little corner of the world."



Mike Ramsdell

Author, A Train to Potevka

"The Marvelous Journey Home is one family's account of their
emotional journey through the adoption process in Russia. Through reading
this book, you can immediately feel that this family has given these
children the love they deserve. This book is an inspiration for other
families who wish to adopt older children.

"John Simmons' novel is a beautiful telling of the blessings and
challenges of adopting a child and coming to terms with the beginning we
call death. This simple story illustrates the peace and growth available to
those struggling to come to terms with fears of death and dying. Thinly
veiled fiction that is moving in its honesty. The Marvelous Journey
Home is a journey worthy of retelling."



Gary L. Burraston, NHA

Administrator

Wentworth Assisted Living Community

"The Marvelous Journey Home is an awakening to the beauty of
death; that death is an adoption into other worlds. The unspeakable joy
comes when we realize that the miracle is not in receiving more time in the
orphanage, but in going home. The Marvelous Journey Home gives
peace, comfort and realization about death that I wish my children to
understand."



Vera Kunz

Cancer Patient

"Being taken from your only known "family," whether it be by death or
adoption is an undeniably traumatic experience. The Marvelous Journey
Home helps show how with either situation there will always be a way to
overcome life's obstacles. If only those letting go understood what lies
ahead for those "going home" we would have comfort and peace in our
hearts."



Debbie Wanner

Activities Director

Wentworth Assisted Living Community

"The Marvelous Journey Home is a mere inspiration about life,
about death, and about true love. The stories of Katya going home with her
adopted parents and death of the grandmother are both celebrating the
journey to their homes: to the place new for Katya called Amérika, and the
place to be with our Heavenly Father. Both people are wrapped in the sea of
love, kindness and comfort. This book helps us soften our hearts, think
about the purpose of our lives and see the big caring heart of our
Creator."



Svetlana Schoenbaucher

Educational Aide for Russian Speaking Students

"More than a simple story of international adoption, The Marvelous
Journey Home is a powerful, emotional look at life itself. The parallel
perspectives on two journeys--two little Russian girls going to a better
place, and a dying grandmother, also going to a better place--bring
life-changing insights to the reader. No one should miss this experience.
The Marvelous Journey Home is a must read for all who are thinking
about adoption and for anyone who struggles with the death of a loved
one."



Michael B. Wells, M.D., D.O.

Saginaw, Michigan

Edition details

• Publisher: White Knight Printing and Publishing
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0972591613
• ISBN 13: 9780972591614
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 382