Perspectives on a Grafted Tree: Thoughts for Those Touched by Adoption [Hardcover]

Patricia Irwin Johnston (Editor), Diana L. Stanley (Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Welcome Home by Michael F. Anderson
Not Really Yours, Some People Say by Vicki Andres
For My Husband's Mother by Ellen Bass
For Anthony: Christmas, 1964 by Lola Zierer Beihl
To John-david by Rosemary Bleeke
Mary Cassatt's Mothers And Children by Leslie Brooke
The Chosen One by Virginia Cain
Early Morning Ritual With A Newly Adopted Daughter by Nancy Cash
Adoption by Ann Fox Chandonnet
To My Birth Mother by Shirley Gates Cochrane
Trying To Conceive #2 by Marion Deutsch Cohen
Agency Poem by Mary Anne Cohen
Confession by Mary Anne Cohen
Sea Poem by Mary Anne Cohen
Daughter by Pam Conrad
Kitchen by Pam Conrad
Waiting For The Call by Shelia Stewart Darst
Sonnet For Michelle (on Receiving Final Adoption Papers) by Barbara Nector Davis
My Daughter's Dowry by Arthur Dobrin
The Cradle Is Too Small For Me by Dainne Drilock
From That Point On by Didi S. Dubelyew
Search For Yesterday by Didi S. Dubelyew
Adopting For One's Own by Barbara Fialkowski
Doin' Time by Helen Garcia
To Michael, Brian, Ricky And Susie by Kathy Garlitz
The Search: Identity, In by Marianna F. Gentile
The Search: Identity, Out by Marianna F. Gentile
On Children by Kahlil Gibran
The Beginning by Malcolm Glass
To David Broomfield by Rosemarie Gross
Why This Child? by Lori Hess
Not Flesh Of My Flesh by Fleur Conkling Heyliger
How Could They? by W. Steven Hollingsworth
Oh, Little One by Ellen Hyers
The Easy Way To Have A Child by Pat Johnston
If Only You Could Know by Elayne D. Mackie
Prelude by Elayne D. Mackie
Mother May I by Marcia Massco
The Adopted Ones by Janet Mccann
Bloodlines by Walter Robert Mcdonald
My Child Was Born Today by Angela Mcguire
Family Tree by Jane Merchant
I Am A Ghost-written Book by Elizabeth Seydel Morgan
My Naomi by Elizabeth Seydel Morgan
Pre-adoption Picture by Isaac Mozeson
Gold Bangles: For My Indian Daughter by Erika Mumford
First Grief by Margaret Rampton Munk
Kinship by Margaret Rampton Munk
Mother's Day by Margaret Rampton Munk
One The Night Of Andrew's Birth by Margaret Rampton Munk
A Birthday Ode To Wendy by Sandra Kay Musser
Is This The Day? by Dawn Newell
Lost History by Dawn Newell
My Daughter's Mothers by Dawn Newell
Reflection On Love by Dawn Newell
A Few Days (my Adopted-away Daughter Turns Eighteen) by Elizabeth Omand
To Leah by Christina V. Pacosz
Opting For 'me' by Opal Palmer
To An Adopted by Carol Lynn Pearson
Little Spirit To Childless Couple by Carol Lynn Peterson
Our Child by Chris Probst
First Meeting by Miriam Proctor
The Intake Interview by Marilee Richards
My Brown Daughter by Grace Sandness
Stevie Didn't Hear by Grace Sandness
Who Loves Me? by Deloris Selinsky
Tighter In The Weave by Kirk Shuster
The Mother Of Red Jacket To Her Sisters, September, 1762 by Philip R. St. Clair
Picture 254 by Richard Stanin
Acceptance by Judith W. Steinbergh
I Just Gave Birth To A Son by Judith W. Steinbergh
The Mother Of My Child by Judith W. Steinbergh
Foundling by Patricia Storace
The Beginning by Rabindranath Tagore
Benediction by Rabindranath Tagore
Adoptive Father by Bill Thompson
The Heart Of A Child Is A Scroll by Anonymous
Legacy Of An Adopted Daughter by Anonymous
Some May Be Born The World Wide World Apart by Anonymous
Our Gift by Norel C. Waldhaus
To Mama (on My Birthday) by Sue Brannan Walker
Adoption by Carol Burnes Weston
A Birthday by Sue Westrum
Stifled Love by Your Birth Mother [pseud.]
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder®

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Perspectives Press (IN) (March 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0960950400
• ISBN-13: 978-0960950409
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.7 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: #992,507 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Patricia Irwin Johnston, MS, is an infertility and adoption educator and advocate with over 30 years of experience as both a volunteer (with local and national advocacy groups in the field) and as professional (publisher at Perspectives Press, Inc.) in the field of challenged family building. She is the author of several award-winning books (the most recent, Adopting: Sound Choices, Strong Families won the 2009 IPBA Benjamin Franklin Award as best self-help book and a 2010 Mom's Choices Award) and has herself been given several awards, including being named a 2007 Angel in Adoption by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption. A member of an extended family directly touched through five generations by adoptions, Pat and her husband live in Indianapolis.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perspectives On A Grafted Tree, July 31, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Perspectives on a Grafted Tree: Thoughts for Those Touched by Adoption (Hardcover)

I bought this book in 1991, just before I adopted my two sons. It is the type of book that I continue to go back to at various stages of my 'parental development', and I continually find something to touch my heart. Now that my sons are older and asking some of the more difficult questions about their adoption, I find this book a good resource to share and open discussions with. I have purchased several as gifts to give to friends that are adoptees, adoptive parents, and birthmothers.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent description of the adoption experience!, June 22, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Perspectives on a Grafted Tree: Thoughts for Those Touched by Adoption (Hardcover)

This book is a collection of poetry and is divided into three sections -- the perspectives of adoptive parents, the perspectives of birth parents, and the perspectives of adopted children. I found the book to be beautifully written and illustrated, and it gave me greater insight into the adoption experience from perspectives other than my own. An excellent gift for those affected by adoption!

3 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Very disappointed!, July 10, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Perspectives on a Grafted Tree: Thoughts for Those Touched by Adoption (Hardcover)

I had purchased this book to give as a gift to some friends who are adopting and was so disappointed in the book that I returned it instead of giving it as a gift. From the poem titles listed you would think that the poems were very touching and emotional, perfect for anyone adopting or touched by adoption, but in fact it was just the opposite. I couldn't help but think while reading some of the poems that they were very depressing. They mainly focused on the negative topics of adoption and were not the types of poems that would touch someone while reading them. Sorry to disappoint!