Sunday, April 19, 2009

Lucky Girl - book discussion challenge

Have you ever read a book and felt like you were reading a story about your life? I read memoir this weekend that felt like I was reading something that Hannah and several other Taiwan adoptees could write about their lives 20-30 years from now. The book I'm talking about is called Lucky Girl by Mei-Ling Hopgood.

I'd like to challenge my Taiwan adoption friends to order the book, read it, and we'll have a discussion about it here the week after Memorial Day. That should give you plenty of time to buy or borrow it, read it (only 244 pages), and be ready to tell others what you think. Let me preface all of this by telling you that I don't read a lot, and I've never been a part of a book club, so I'm not sure what I'm doing organizing something like this.

Why was this book important to me? Several reasons. It gave me affirmation that an international adoptee can have connections with two sets of families in two very different cultures and be a happy well-adjusted person. It solidified my belief that we should be providing our child with all of the Mandarin language opportunities available to us so that she is able to keep connected to birth family and Taiwanese culture if she chooses to.

Below is a trailer for the book. If you're getting the book and would like to participate, leave me a comment at the bottom of this post so I know who's in. Kevin has already started reading it as well. HERE is a link to buy the book from Amazon. Thanks!

17 comments:

  1. I'm not committing to anything. :-) (but, I'm interested and might read it anyway)

    What I think is funny is how books are getting trailers now. It makes me feel like an old fuddy duddy- like this futuristic thing crept up on me when I wasn't looking. I saw another book trailer last year some time and it kind of weirded me out. As I'm too young to start resisting new fangled things, I'll go with the flow.

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  2. Thank you for sharing this info! I will get the book, and have good intentions to read it by Memorial Day. However I'm a bit overwhelmed at the moment, so I'm not sure I'll give myself the time. No matter when I get to it, I am sure the book will provide valuable info for my children's futures. Thank you!

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  3. I'm going to try and read it so I can participate in your discussion - thanks for posting your review of it. I'm looking forward to reading it!

    Cindy
    http://adopttaiwan.wordpress.com

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  4. that book looks awesome . . . I love reading (auto)biographies. I've added it to my amazon wishlist.

    Thanks for the recommendation even though I'm not an adopting parent . . . yet anyway ;)

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  5. Ok, I am gonna try my hardest to finish it....thanks for the suggestion!

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  6. This is great! I can't wait to check it out. I don't promise I'll be done with it by then (I have about 3 other books going right now!), but I'll give it a try.

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  7. Count me in too. I have it on order with Amazon and imagine I'll devour it when it arrives. :)

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  8. I ordered my book! It says its supposed to be here on Thursday. This was perfect timing since I just finished my last book I was reading (I started it before Breelyn came home - sad, huh?) Anyway, I will try to be done by memorial day but I'd be happy to be part of the discussion!
    Holli
    www.expectinggoodthings.blogspot.com

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  9. Love your site!
    I am a mother of a three year old girl from Taiwan

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  10. The book was absolutely wonderful and powerful. So glad I got it!

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  11. I am planning on starting it this weekend!!! We just received our referral this week :)

    Suzy

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  12. Ana said...
    Great Idea !! I've been looking for a book like this one..
    our baby is now 2 years old.

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  13. What a nice response you got! I met her when she came to Mpls and she signed a book plate for Jia and Willa.

    I was really struck by how similar her experience growing up was to that of my sister's (who was also adopted in the mid-70's by a liberal midwestern family), and how they hold such similar perspectives.

    To answer a few of your other questions...we plan to all attempt to learn Mandarin in our family together. We will do classes, hire a tutor or possibly do an immersion program in China or Taiwan.

    We promised Willa's birth family that we'd travel back to see them and plan to do so when she's around 9 or 10, so we'll all go. I would like to make as many trips as possible to China or Taiwan in general so that it becomes more familiar to the girls. If at any time either of them wanted to go on their own when they're older, we'd certainly understand.

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  14. Sarah - thanks for posting this. I wanted to see photos from her trip and was disappointed there weren't any in the book.

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  15. Thank you for posting this trailer! I really had wished for photos in the book itself.

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