Once They Hear My Name: Korean Adoptees and Their Journeys Toward Identity - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0979375606 ISBN 13: 9780979375606

Publisher: Tamarisk Books Llc, 2008

Synopsis

In their own words, nine Korean adoptees talk about how they became the adults they are today: Americans with new ties to a homeland they never knew while growing up in middle-class American homes. They speak candidly about acceptance and rejection, about life struggles and successes, about experiences unique to each yet connected by common threads. These stories chronicle adoptees' ongoing, and often difficult, quests to discover who they are. Growing up, they initially viewed themselves as typical American kids at home with baseball, pizza, playing with dolls and all other facets of American culture. But often their peers - and sometimes members of their own families - saw them as strangers, good targets for ugly stereotypes. Many of the nine adoptees chronicle their trips as adults back to Korea to find their roots and, in some cases, their birth families. Hearing and learning from these voices may smooth the path for the growing number of families being formed today through international and trans-racial adoption.

About this title

About the Author:

Ellen Lee is a licensed clinical social worker. She lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland. Marilyn Lammert is a psychotherapist. She lives in Bethesda, Maryland. Mary Anne Hess is a freelance writer and editor who specializes in education and family issues. She lives in Silver Spring, Maryland.

From the Inside Flap:

The oldest among them are senior citizens; the youngest are still in diapers. Yet, the more than 100,000 Korean adoptees who've come to the United States since the 1950s share a common bond. Raised in small town, suburbs and cities, they are the largest group of children ever adopted across racial, cultural and geographic lines. ``Once They Hear My Name'' is a revealing collection of oral histories where nine adoptees, in their own words, talk about how they became the adults they are today: Americans with ties to a homeland that, for many, grow stronger as they age. They speak candidly about acceptance and rejection, about struggles and successes - experiences unique to each, yet connected by common threads. At their core these stories chronicle the ongoing, and often difficult, quest for identity. The narratives illustrate the wide variety of ways all adoptive parents and adoptees, not just those from Korea, wrestle with identity issues. The subject is far too complex for a one-size-fits-all approach, yet hearing and learning from these voices may smooth the path for the growing number of families being formed today through international and transracial adoption.

About this edition

• Publisher: Tamarisk Books Llc
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0979375606
• ISBN 13: 9780979375606
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 178
• Editor: Lee Ellen, Lammert Marilyn, Hess Mary Anne