Customer Reviews

China Ghosts: My Daughter's Journey to America, My Passage to Fatherhood

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Although I'm not yet a parent myself, Jeff Gammage's memoir of adopting his daughters from China moved me to think that having a child, whether a biological one or an adopted one, is an experience I really don't want to miss. It was especially refreshing to hear a story like this told from the dad's point of view --- a perspective we don't often hear. As a former coworker of Jeff's at the Philadelphia Inquirer, I recognized and appreciated the thoughtful and sensitive approach he brings to every subject he reports. The details of his trip to adopt Jin Yu are dramatic and touching. I liked the fact that Jeff and his wife recognized the loss their daughter experienced and decided to keep her name instead of giving her an Americanized one --- after all, as he's said, it's the one thing she didn't have to give up in leaving China.

As the adoptive mom of a Chinese daughter, I have read numerous stories written by the adoptive parents of Chinese girls. This is the one that stood out for me... Jeff Gammage writes so well the thoughts and feelings of a parent who has to deal with so many issues when adopting a child... and the complications that come with adopting a child from China.

If you are considering adoption, know that not all China adoptions are like this one, and yet, all China adoptions will have some, if not most, of the feelings, thoughts and issues one will deal with as Jeff documented. If you've been there done that - you will find yourself in this book. And if you just want to know more about China adoptions, I would recommend this book as a must read.

I devoured this book after someone on an adoption Yahoo Group recommended it and I heard the author on NPR. I have to say it's absolutely amazing. Jeff has extraordinary insight and he pulls no punches. He vividly describes both his incredible love for his daughter and his guilt and anger that she had to stay in an orphanage for 2 years before he could get her. He explores the contradiction between being eternally grateful to a country for allowing him to have his daughter, and being angry with the country whose policies forced his daughter to end up in an orphanage in the first place.

This is an incredibly moving book and is impossible to put down. China Ghosts will leave you touched and inspired.

I just finished this book and I couldn't put it down for the first 9 chapters! I've read MANY adoption stories and none have touched me like Jeff Gammage's. His honesty, love and compassion come through in his words. The only reason this book didn't get 5 stars is because he left me wanting more. I felt like the adoption of his 2nd daughter was underplayed and I wanted to hear more about his 2nd adoption experience; perhaps that's for the 2nd book?
I have finally found an adoptive parent who put into words exactly how I've felt since I adopted my daughter 2 years ago. Thank you Jeff!

This is an interesting memoir of a couple adopting a child. Married for almost two decades Jeff and Christine Gammage decide to expand the family by adopting a Chinese infant. Finally after two years of horrific red tape (no pun intended), they succeeded in Changsha, Hunan Province when two years old silent Jin Yu joins the couple turning them into a family of three. However, as the Gammages will soon learn traversing the governmental bureaucrats and the insane laws to protect the child was the easy journey; parenting is the difficult but more rewarding quest made further complex by a quiet child who speaks a little Chinese while her new parents speak English.

Readers will appreciate this poignant memoir of the heart as author Jeff Gammage makes it clear how much he loves his daughter. The insight into the Chinese culture is vivid, but also as lucid is the deep look into the American culture re foreign adoptions. Easy to read, this is a winning bio of a writer's "passage to fatherhood" and his "daughter's journey to America".

Harriet Klausner

We were with Jeff and Chris in Langzhou when they adopted their second daughter in 2004. In reading China Ghosts, we were transported back to that moment in time when after years of longing and broken hope, a precious and beautiful girl was placed in our arms; reminded of the feelings, emotions, and passion of why we started down that road less traveled. For those who have adopted, are considering it, or know someone who has, Jeff expresses so many of the emotions that are woven throughout the process, including the aftermath. As the father of a Chinese daughter, China Ghosts is a reminder of my passage to fatherhood as well; It speaks all I think. Thank you Jeff!

Jeff Gammage brings the reader into a little known world, the Chinese orphanage, and explains all the feelings an adopting parent has in getting a little girl from this big, mysterious country. He avoids cliches in talking about China, and I was touched by how well he describes his feelings upon becoming a new dad, especially since he initially never saw himself as a father or wanted to be one. But he takes on an epic journey, initially to please his wife, and is overwhelmed by the love he feel for his new daughter, Jin Yu. Gammage has a keen eye for the world of childhood, and he tells a gripping story with drama and insight.

The book started out okay, with the author describing his trip to China and how it took several days for his daughter to warm up to him and his wife. I thought I was going to like the book and relate to it since my daughter was also adopted from China. (I will say that he and I have one major difference in our decision to adopt: Adoption was his second choice for starting a family, but it was my FIRST choice.)

Then he spent rest of the book in a self-spiral pity party of his own guilt and angst. He whines and whines about how guilty he felt that he wasn't there for his daughter during her first 2 years when she needed him the most and he was obsessing over infertility treatments instead of going to her. What he fails to realize is that Chinese adoption is a methodical process and if he didn't waste time with infertility treatments, he would not have been matched with the same daughter, a daughter he describes as a "perfect" match for his family.

He whines about the "culture shock" of returning to America after being in China. For a news reporter (and someone who has traveled out of the country before), he seems to be short-sighted.

In the end, I want to grab him by the shoulders and shake him yelling "Don't be such a drama queen and so melodramatic! You have your daughter. She has her past. Be there for her NOW. Stop sulking. Let the dark days behind you or you;ll bring her down too."

I decided to buy this book after reading an excerpt in the paper. What a gripping read! This is by far the best memoir I've read in a long time (and I read a lot). The writing is just super, and the way the story unfolds is surprisingly suspenseful. I haven't adopted and I'm not planning on doing so, and I would hate to see this book get categorized as an "adoption" book. It's a book for anyone who loves a good story and appreciates beautiful writing. I hope he writes another book. I'm a fan.

I read a review of this book in a magazine and ordered it immediately. Having adopted from China, everything was familiar, but unique in various ways. Anyone who has been through the process or who may be waiting now should definitely read it. I related to many of the events described from the father's perspective, but my wife enjoyed it as much as I did.

I will warn anyone that decides to read the book that some of the experiences that are written about are heartbreaking. You will most certainly want to cry at various points throughout the book. Overall, though, it is a good read. It will bring back lots of memories of your China trip.