When We Become Ours - (Hardcover)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

"An emotion-filled collection." --Kirkus Reviews

A CCBC 2024 Choices for the Fiction for Young Adult category!

Two teens take the stage and find their voice . . .

A girl learns about her heritage and begins to find her community . . .

A sister is haunted by the ghosts of loved ones lost . . .

There is no universal adoption experience, and no two adoptees have the same story. This anthology for teens edited by Shannon Gibney and Nicole Chung contains a wide range of powerful, poignant, and evocative stories in a variety of genres.

These tales from fifteen bestselling, acclaimed, and emerging adoptee authors genuinely and authentically reflect the complexity, breadth, and depth of adoptee experiences.

This groundbreaking collection centers what it's like growing up as an adoptee. These are stories by adoptees, for adoptees, reclaiming their own narratives.

With stories by:

Kelley BakerNicole ChungShannon GibneyMark OshiroMeMe CollierSusan Harness Meredith IrelandMariama J. LockingtonLisa NopachaiStefany ValentineMatthew SalessesLisa Wool-Rim SjöblomEric SmithJenny Heijun WillsSun Yung ShinForeword by Rebecca CarrollAfterword by JaeRan Kim, MSW, PhD

Review Quotes

"An emotion-filled collection." - Kirkus Reviews

"Nicole and Shannon have done something incredible here: brought together a group of incredibly talented writers to speak to an experience we so rarely see reflected in young adult literature. This anthology is as engaging as it is healing--a must-have for every classroom." - Leah Johnson, bestselling author of You Should See Me In a Crown

"The rabid reader of YA may already know what more casual fans will discover rather quickly: an impressive amount of established and emerging (but all justifiably celebrated) authors are adoptees, including editors and contributors Shannon Gibney and Nicole Chung. The quality of each entry remains high, and the divergent approaches to this task dismantle many assumptions about adoptive processes, well-intentioned white moms, transracial adoptee identity, and family. What's left is simply spectacular storytelling grounded in lived experiences of loss and love, on long road trips to SoCal snow, elevated to space colonies, illustrated as graphic novels, guided by prophecy, and supportive of those who needs to see these stories in print the most." - Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books