Chicken Soup for the Adopted Soul: Stories Celebrating Forever Families (Chicken Soup for the Soul) [Paperback]

Jack Canfield (Author), Mark Victor Hansen (Author), LeAnn Thieman L.P.N. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 22, 2008 | Series: Chicken Soup for the Soul

Chicken Soup for the Adopted Soul will touch your heart with stories of finding and creating families. From tales about international orphaned babies and children who spent years in the foster-care system to those who were adopted at birth, this very special compilation conveys the true meaning of unconditional love.

Read a moving letter from a birth mother to her son explaining how difficult it was to give him up when she didn't have the means to care for him, how she still thinks about him often, and how she will always love him. Read stories from now-grown children and even those from the Vietnam Operation Babylift in 1975. Through their stories, you will delight in meeting happy, well-adjusted, grateful members of families and society.

Find hope in stories of infertile couples who are given the gift of parenthood, adopted children who thrive and find joy in life, and older couples given a second chance at family. Chicken Soup for the Adopted Soul provides insight into what adoption is all about and what it's really like to be adopted. Share in our celebration of the lives of adopted children who found forever families and parents who found forever love.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

Of all the Chicken Soup stories I have written, Love is Enough was the hardest to write.

The story touches on an old wound, one that took a long time to heal because it involved my son Jaime, the one I gave up for adoption.

So much is written about the parents of adopted children. Few people know or understand how a mother could love her child and be willing to give him/her up. Society has a double standard when it comes to mothers who give away their children.

There are mothers who say they would die for their children or do anything they had to do in order for their children to have the best possible life. These same women then swear they would never give up their child and women who do must not have loved them enough. That double standard is what puts so much pressure on women who do give up their children or have their children taken away when there is not enough for the child no matter what or how much they give up. In the end, it is all about love and sometimes love is enough.

About the Author

Jack Canfield is a sought-after national speaker and author and the cocreator of the New York Times and USA Today bestselling Chicken Soup for the Soul series.

Mark Victor Hansen is a sought-after national speaker and author and the cocreator of the New York Times and USA Today bestselling Chicken Soup for the Soul series.

LeAnn Thieman, L.P.N., has been a nurse for thirty-one years. Her story of helping to rescue three hundred babies as Vietnam fell was featured in Chicken Soup for the Mother's Soul, and she has written stories for seven other Chicken Soup books.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: HCI (January 22, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 075730673X
• ISBN-13: 978-0757306730
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #269,169 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm a contributor, so this might be biased., March 7, 2008

By 

Nancy Lindquist - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chicken Soup for the Adopted Soul: Stories Celebrating Forever Families (Chicken Soup for the Soul) (Paperback)

I contributed two pieces to this project and I am proud of them. I've contributed to another Chicken Soup book as well, but I did not review that one. Why am I reviewing this one? The contributions are wonderful. I read the book through on the day I received it and love it. I marked many stories to share with my children, who, like me, are adopted. Yes, it contains my eldest son's adoption story, but it also is helping me deal with issues I still have and did not think were there. Reading the common threads that run through these stories, the pain, the joy, the healing has really struck a chord in my heart I did not know I had. It's a wonderful read.

15 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Very religious and mostly about adopting babies, January 7, 2009

By 

SophieG (New England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chicken Soup for the Adopted Soul: Stories Celebrating Forever Families (Chicken Soup for the Soul) (Paperback)

As a expecting parent waiting to adopt through the foster care system, I was really looking forward to reading this book, but I was very disappointed with it. The stories are certainly nice to read, but many of them were written by folks who had a religious calling to adopt, and who went on to adopt infants or very young children. A lot of the stories can be summarized as follows: 1) Mom and Dad feel that God is telling them to adopt; 2) God leads them to the "ideal" child (usually a baby); 3) God eliminates obstacles; and 4) the family lives happily ever after. I am truly happy for the families in this book for whom everything seemed predetermined, but many people do not approach adoption as a religious calling. Also, many of the stories in this book seem to perpetuate the myth that most parents adopt infants and young children. Right now, there are about 120,000 children in the foster care system in this country who are available for adoption, and most are between the ages of 8 and 12, with a large number of teens who may never have a family because of their age. I am saddened and angered that these children, many of whom live in our own neighborhoods, are given so little of a voice in this book. Adopting an older child who has been the victim of abuse, neglect, and multiple losses may not fit the peaches-and-cream tone of this book, however many of these kids and their new families face the demons, climb the mountains, and thrive. Perhaps their stories aren't included because they aren't the somewhat sanitized, Disneyland image of adoption that this book portrays. This is truly a shame, because the the stories of families who create love, hope and a future from years of fear, rejection, hurt, distrust, and anger are TRULY "chicken soup for the soul."

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Chicken soup indeed, June 13, 2008

By 

Caledonia - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Chicken Soup for the Adopted Soul: Stories Celebrating Forever Families (Chicken Soup for the Soul) (Paperback)

Touching in so many ways... it brings tears of sorrow and joy. I really got a better understanding of the whole issue and how those who offer their children what they consider a better existence and those who get adopted feel. Truly outstanding writing makes this book a good purchase.