Customer Reviews

A Girl Named Maria: The Story of an Adoption

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It is an astonishingly honest telling of a true life story. A single woman in search of motherhood and a child abandoned in Columbia come together for a nearly 22 year journey. It ends with Maria's death as a result of an automobile accident.

The joys and tensions of the shared living, the adjustments, dilemas, and struggles of raising this bright, coflicted youngster are clearly described. Her mother's constant search for information about her daughter's past, search for resources to help her overcome her troubles, her hopes and dissapointment engage the reader.

This is a story of parental dedication, love, joy, hurt and ambivalence. This is also the story of a youth searching for roots, her place in the world, meaning and love. A must read for families contemplating adoption and for those who have lived the adoption experience.

Book arrived quickly from the seller, and in good condition. This true story was mind boggling for me as I adopted a son from Bogota, Columbia, while living on the East coast. He is also learning disabled and in many ways resembles Maria. I would recommend this very well written and suspensful story to others who have experienced a troubled adoption.

I am actually reviewing this book before being able to read it. I just ordered it online. I was at chelsea school when Maria was there and road that same school bus with her. I had not heard about her death until a year ago. I have been out of the loop since I do not live in the washington area anymore. I have met her mother a few times as well by chance but just remember how wonderful it was too have her as a classmate. I remembered that she would draw pictures everyday and also helped paint a mural on the wall of the school. She was also talented at making people smile and was very energetic and positive. I am sure there will be a lot of information in this book but it will never make up for knowing Maria in person. I feel lucky to have known Maria the person, friend and classmate. She was a remarkable person and I share my deepest condolencses with her mother.

When a toddler is abandoned, only questions will follow. "A Girl Named Maria" tells the story of Maria Consuelo, who as a child was abandoned in a Columbian restroom, left to die. When she reaches adulthood in America, she's left with only questions to find out where she came from and who her biological family is. "A Girl Named Maria" is an intriguing story of facing one's roots and finding peace with them.

"A Girl Named Maria" is - specifically - the story of a German-American woman who adopts a child from Colombia, South America (two very distinct and different national personalities!), but its appeal is so much broader than that. It is a tale of the ups and downs of parenting that anyone who has ever had a teenager will identify with. It is a look at two formidable personalities - mother and daughter - facing off against each other one moment, loving another moment. Told with both humor and sadness, this book is both emotion-provoking and engrossing.

As the father of an adopted son, I found Valerie Kreutzer's memoir both a gripping personal account and an immensely helpful resource in understanding the twists and turns of the adoption journey. Even birth parents in traditional families sometimes express the wish that their baby had come with a map or a set of instructions. Adoptive parents get an extra dollop of puzzlement and more than a few extra challenges. "A Girl Named Maria" will provide valuable insights to anyone who has embarked upon this journey, either as adoptive parent or as adoptee. Ms. Kreutzer's honest and moving account is suffused with grace and humor. In her struggle to understand her daughter's complex needs, tensions, and feelings, she finds hope and meaning without ever losing hold of the stark realism of Maria's circumstances and the blunt fact of her untimely death. This poignant story will be a welcome and valued addition to the literature of adoption.

This story is a unique account of adopting and raising a bright yet troubled daughter. The mother (who herself was a child in Berlin during World War II), adopts the young girl from Columbia. This honest account is moving, funny, tragic, and gives a window into the adoption process: its twists and turns, its up and downs, its triumphs and challenges. By the end you feel as if you have grown up with the family and have experienced the mother's enduring love, the sorrow at the tragic loss of her child, as well as the child's very real struggle with her identity. In all, it is a must-read for families who have adopted a child or who have a child with a learning disability; it will also be inspirational to single parents.

On one level, Valerie Kreutzer's remarkable book, "A Girl Named Maria," is about her trials and tribulations in raising her adopted daughter, Maria. Tragically, Maria died in an automobile accident while still coming to grips with her young adulthood and before mother and child had had a chance to fully work out their differences. One gets the sense that had fate not intervened -- given time -- they might have. But whatever opportunity there was died in in instant on a lonely Florida highway.

On another level, however, Kreutzer's book is more universal -- the story of two human beings trying to relate as best they could despite differences of temperament, culture, and attitude toward life -- all complicated by the juxtaposition of the roles of parent and child. What comes through more than anything I think -- because of Kreutzer's effortless, lucid writing -- is a profile of two, strong-willed people who are frequently at odds, but who nevertheless love each other. The story is richly drawn and -- this might seem odd to say for a book such as this -- gripping from one page to the next. What will happen next I wondered in this stormy saga of mother and daughter?

The book is unsparing in its portrayal of the complexities faced in the raising of Maria. Kreutzer adopted her as an infant while on a visit to Latin America. It was not an easy childhood from the beginning and the difficulties increased as Maria slowly became aware of her origins. This seems to have complicated, in Maria's case, the inevitable search for her own identity that all children seek -- particularly during her teenage years. She was still in the process of discovery, it seems, when time ran out. Her mother was left to cope with the overpowering grief -- and perhaps guilt -- that all parents who lose a child must endure. This stunningly intelligent book is her attempt to make sense of it all -- and to cope with the daily ache of loss.

I loved this book. Once I started reading it, I could not put it down. I would recommend this book for all parents, whether biological or adoptive. The author's descriptions of her emotions are very vivid, and you can feel her pain as she is writing. I believe her daughter Maria would be very proud of this book since the author says in the introduction, "Maria was whispering in my ear during the writing of this book, 'Tell it like it was'". It appears she left nothing out, and did not skimp on details. It appears she really did tell it like it was. This is a must-read.