Lemon Book

Near the beginning of the diary of her journey to Wuhu, author Emily Prager writes of her five year old daughter, Lulu, "I am so glad she is getting to look at her China, the China of 'you're from China, you're adopted from China, you came from China, I went to China to get you, I was in China when the phone rang and a voice said, 'Would you like to meet your baby?'' Her China. That China." During their month and half long stay, Prager describes Lulu's efforts to reconcile the setting and circumstances of her birth with her current life in the United States. In the context of such an intimidatingly controversial and multi-faceted topic as transracial, international adoption, Prager's observations are searchingly honest and heart-wrenching. I appreciated the fact that she did not sugarcoat the difficulty, pain, and cultural and ethnic limbo that transracial, international adoptees and their adoptive parents experience. When Prager ends the story on an affirming note, it feels hard-earned and authentic.