Welcome Home

by Eric Smith

Overview

Welcome Home collects a number of adoption-themed fictional short stories, and brings them together in one anthology from a diverse range of celebrated Young Adult authors. The all-star roster includes Edgar-award winner Mindy McGinnis, New York Times best-selling authors C.J. Redwine (The Shadow Queen) and William Ritter (Jackaby), and acclaimed YA authors across all genres. The full list of contributors includes: Adi Alsaid, Karen Akins, Erica M. Chapman, Caela Carter, Libby Cudmore, Dave Connis, Julie Eshbaugh, Helene Dunbar, Lauren Gibaldi, Shannon Gibney, Jenny Kaczorowski, Julie Leung, Sangu Mandanna, Matthew Quinn Martin, Mindy McGinnis, Lauren Morrill, Tameka Mullins, Sammy Nickalls, Shannon Parker, C.J. Redwine, Randy Ribay, William Ritter, Stephanie Scott, Natasha Sinel, Eric Smith, Courtney C. Stevens, Nic Stone, Kate Watson, and Tristina Wright.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781635830040
Publisher:	North Star Editions
Publication date:	09/05/2017
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.90(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Eric Smith is a young adult author and literary agent who grew up in the wilds of New Jersey. When he isn't working on books (his and other peoples), he can be found writing about books for places like Book Riot and Paste Magazine. He lives with his wife, Nena, and their legion of small furry animals. Find him online at www.ericsmithrocks.com or on Twitter at @ericsmithrocks.

Editorial Reviews

"The best [stories in this anthology], reflect the bittersweet truths that adoptive families differ profoundly from biological ones and that coming to terms with these differences is a lifelong process." —Kirkus Reviews

"Authors across a variety of genres share stories that range from the fantastical to gritty, but all will touch readers’ hearts (and cause a few to shed some tears)."—School Library Journal

"The stories are uniformly strong, ensuring that teens and discussion leaders alike will find ample choices in this thoughtful collection."—Booklist

"This volume earns a place in every YA library and it is up to YA librarians to put it into the hands of teens who need it most." —VOYA

["A] diverse tapestry of tales exploring adoption from every angle." —BNTeenblog

From the Publisher

08/01/2017
Gr 9 Up—Families come in many varieties, and this collection of short stories explores the theme of adoption. Well-known YA authors, including Adi Alsaid, Mindy McGinnis, C.J. Redwine, and William Ritter, and many lesser-known authors across a variety of genres share stories that range from the fantastical to gritty, but all will touch readers' hearts (and cause a few to shed some tears). Each entry fits the theme of the collection well and is strong enough to stand alone. Characters are developed as well as they can be in just a few pages. While representing a variety of genres and authors, the language and writing style in each tale is strong, and the pieces have touching and heartrending conclusions. Some of the selections touch upon sensitive topics, such as child abuse, and others contain graphic language, but these elements don't affect the overall quality of the narratives. VERDICT Recommended for high school libraries.—Terri Lent, Patrick Henry High School, Ashland, VA

School Library Journal

2017-07-02
This wide-ranging anthology features adoptees, foster-care veterans, trauma survivors, young birth mothers, adoptive parents, and those whose lives they touch. Contemporary realism, science fiction, fantasy, and historical fiction: these 29 stories cover complicated territory. In adoption, happiness is inextricably bound to sorrow, even when birth parents put their child's welfare ahead of their own, even when adoptee and adoptive parents form a loving bond. In Caela Carter's luminous story, an African-American teen, a gifted student and athlete, must tell her beloved mother, whom she visits in prison, that her track coach and foster mother wants to adopt her; being gifted a life her mother couldn't provide is a bitter joy. In Julie Leung's "Ink Drips Black," the bond connecting a Chinese grandmother and her American-adopted granddaughter, Stacy, is sacrifice. The high price paid for Stacy's future is loss of family and culture. Elsewhere, a veteran of multiple placements dreads removal from the warm, welcoming foster family she's bonded with; an adoptive family invites the young birth mother who made their family possible to remain part of it. Too many less-impressive stories offer a conventional outsider's view of adoption—adoption by generous, loving parents as the happy ending to years of birthparent abuse or neglect. The best, however, reflect the bittersweet truths that adoptive families differ profoundly from biological ones and that coming to terms with these differences is a lifelong process. Skip this uneven collection's slighter offerings; its best are worth finding. (Short stories. 12-16)

Kirkus Reviews