After the Morning Calm: Reflections of Korean Adoptees [Paperback]

Sook Wilkinson (Editor), Nancy Fox (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 18, 2002

Korean adult adoptees speak out in this anthology. Through memories, reflections, and poetry, adoptees speak to the range of issues that accompany adoption: feelings of belonging and difference, self and other, culture and accomodation, love and loss. We now know that it is in late adolescence and young adulthood that many adoptees move full-tilt into struggling with these issues. These writings offer a wonderful tool to help adoptees move through the process.

Editorial Reviews

Review

After the Morning Calm is particularly suited for the younger reader. This was one of the goals of the editors. -- William Drucker, to be published

These women and men express a range of perspectives as they boldly and honestly reveal their lives as adopted Koreans. -- Amy Harp, May, 2002

Truthful and easy to read, "After the Morning Calm" raises concerns all Korean adoptees share. -- Min Ji Ng, FAIR Magazine, Spring, 2002

About the Author

About the Editors:

Sook Wilkinson, Ph.D., is the author of "Birth is More than Once: The Inner World of Adopted Korean Children." As a clinical psychologist who has devoted her career to working with international adoptees and their families, she also offers an invaluable perspective as a Korean woman born and educated through college in Korea. She is a frequent presenter at professional conferences and adoptive parent meetings on cross-cultural issues, parenting, and various aspects of international adoption.

Nancy Fox, one of the founders and Executive Director of Americans for International Aid and Adoption, is a national and international speaker on adoption and child welfare. Recipient of the "Friend of Children" award from North American Council on Adoptable Children, she has served on the Board and been past president of Joint Council on Inernational Children's Services.

Twenty six Korean adult adoptees contributed their stories. They are: Kathleen Bergquist, Mi Ok Song Bruining, Kara Carlisle, Thomas Park Clement, Laura Cromey, Hwa Sun Diaz, Kate Hers, Jung-Hoe Hopgood, Sunny Jo, Peter Kearly, Lee Lind, Stephen Morrison, Robert Ogburn, Shannon O'Neill, Dominic Pangborn, Susanne Penner, Jo Rankin, Christine Jones Regan, Asia Renning, Mark Rodgers, Paull Shin, Mary Lee Vance, Geoffrey van Veen, Rebecca Waybill, Yang Kwi Hwa, and Michelle Zebrowski.

Product Details

• Paperback: 191 pages
• Publisher: Sunrise Ventures (May 18, 2002)
• ISBN-10: 0818702869
• ISBN-13: 978-0818702860
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #910,221 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Honest and Lovely Essays, June 21, 2006

By 

foundpoem - See all my reviews

This review is from: After the Morning Calm: Reflections of Korean Adoptees (Paperback)

"After the Morning Calm" is a series of essays by Korean adoptees. They discuss growing up adopted and Korean in countries other than their birth country. Whether discussing travelling back to Korea to meet or look for their birth families or heritage, writing about the families who raised them, feeling different from others or comfortable with themselves, ultimately these all are stories of identity and of finding oneself as a Korean adoptee.

I have nothing but praise for every author in this book, for writing with unflinching honesty. The editor did a wonderful job, particularly for choosing essays by people of all ages (ranging from those adopted just after the Korean war to those who are young adults now).

Most striking to me was how universal the search for identity is. I saw that whether age 24 or age 50, the issues discussed seem specific to the author's age. Each essay is about a search for or comfort with his or her self as a Korean adoptee -- as Korean in a largely "white" neighborhood or family, as people who appear different from others or are treated differently from others, or whose differences are glossed over by their families, to those at peace in his/her own ways. Yet while they are a striking and poignant look through adoptees' eyes, I was surprised by how much they represent an almost a universal time-line toward adulthood and comfort with oneself (expressed far better than many of us would at each of their ages) -- from "Mirror," in which a young woman at first resists her own reflection in the mirror, to "Love the Life You Have" by perhaps the eldest and most comfortable-in-his-skin author. Life is a journey, and these essays tell the journey to identity through being adopted internationally.

I bought this book as a prospective adoptive parent to see how Korean adoptees feel, to see if I would be doing a disservice or something great for a child. I wanted to read how the children feel as teenagers and adults. (It is, but not completely, telling in that regard, as the political climate and reasons for international adoption have changed with each generation.) I thank every author who contributed for teaching me about yourselves and for sharing your experiences and thoughts so honestly. Most special was the sincerity, whether painful or joyful, of these essays.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A must-read for adoptive parents, November 20, 2010

By 

Web shopper - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: After the Morning Calm: Reflections of Korean Adoptees (Paperback)

I read this book while in the process of adopting and I found it very useful in giving adoptive parents perspective and helping them better understand their child's potential feelings down the road. A must-read for first-time adoptive parents.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, quick read, August 22, 2008

By 

SAB (Oak Park, IL United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: After the Morning Calm: Reflections of Korean Adoptees (Paperback)

This book really gives you a history of adoption from Korea by having so many different points of views. It is a quick read.