Adopted Protagonists for Young Readers
Discover powerful stories of identity and belonging with our curated list of adopted protagonists for young readers. From Margaret Peterson Haddix's *Found* to Sharon Creech's *The Wanderer*, these juvenile and YA fiction picks—including *Slant*, *Saffy's Angel*, and *Finding Miracles*—explore adoption, family, and self-discovery. Perfect for middle grade and teen book lovers seeking authentic, heartfelt narratives.
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Saffy's Angel
by Hilary McKay
The four Casson children, whose mother, Eve, is a fine-arts painter, have all been given the names of paint colors. Cadmium (Caddy), is the eldest; then Saffron (Saffy); Indigo, the only boy; and Rose, the youngest. When Saffy discovers quite by accident that she has been adopted, she is deeply upset, though the others assure her that it makes no difference at all. Saffy is the daughter of Eve's twin sister, who lived in Siena, Italy, and died in a car crash. Grandad brought Saffy, as a very small child, back from Siena. At Grandad's death he leaves something to each of the children. To Saffy, it is "her angel," although no one knows its identity. How Saffy discovers what her angel is, with the help of an energetic new friend, lies at the heart of this enchanting story. Unforgettable characters come alive in often deeply humorous and always absorbing events to be treasured for a long, long time.
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Zen and the Art of Faking it
by Jordan Sonnenblick
Upon moving to a new town yet again, thirteen-year-old San Lee looks for a way to stand out and finds it in his knowledge of Zen Buddhism, but he will have some work to do if he is to be a convincing Zen master.
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First Daughter
by Mitali Perkins
During her father's presidential campaign, sixteen-year-old Sameera Righton, who was adopted from Pakistan at the age of three, struggles with campaign staffers who want to give her a more "all-American" image and create a fake weblog in her name.
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The Wanderer (rack)
by Sharon Creech
The sea, the sea, the sea. It rolled and rolled and called to me. Come in, it said, come in. Sophie hears the sea calling, promising adventure as she sets sail for England with her three uncles and two cousins. Sophie's cousin Cody isn't sure he has the strength to prove himself to the crew and to his father. Through Sophie's and Cody's travel logs, we hear stories of the past and the daily challenges of surviving at sea as The Wanderer sails toward its destination -- and its passengers search for their places in the world.
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Swimming In The Monsoon Sea
by Shyam Selvadurai
Although life for Amrith in 1980 Sri Lanka seems rather uneventful and orderly, things change in a hurry when his male cousin arrives from Canada and Amrith finds himself completely enamored with his new visitor. The setting is Sri Lanka, 1980, and it isthe season of monsoons. Fourteen-year-old Amrith is caught up in the life of the cheerful, well-to-do household in which he is being raised by his vibrant Auntie Bundle and kindly Uncle Lucky. He tries not to think of his life before, when his doting mother was still alive. Amrith's holiday plans seem unpromising: he wants to appear in his school's production of Othello and he is learning to type at Uncle Lucky's tropical fish business. Then, like an unexpected monsoon, his cousin arrives from Canada andAmrith's ordered life is storm-tossed. He finds himself falling in love with the Canadian boy. Othello, with its powerful theme of disastrous jealousy, is the backdrop to the drama in which Amrith finds himself immersed. Shyam Selvadurai's brilliant novels, Funny Boy and Cinnamon Gardens, have garnered him international acclaim. In this, his first young adult novel, he explores first love with clarity, humor, and compassion.
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Finding Miracles
by Julia Alvarez
Fifteen-year-old Milly Kaufman is an average American teenager until Pablo, a new student at her school, inspires her to search for her birth family in his native country.
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Found
by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Thirteen-year-old Jonah has always known that he was adopted, and he's never thought it was any big deal. Then he and a new friend, Chip, who's also adoped, begin receiving mysterious letters. The first one says, "You are one of the missing." The second one says, "Beware! They're coming back to get you." Jonah, Chip, and Jonah's sister, Katherine, are plunged into a mystery that involves the FBI, a vast smuggling operation, an airplane that appeared out of nowhere -- and people who seem to appear and disappear at will. The kids discover they are caught in a battle between two opposing forces that want very different things for Jonah and Chip's lives. Do Jonah and Chip have any choice in the matter? And what should they choose when both alternatives are horrifying? With Found, Margaret Peterson Haddix begins a new series that promises to be every bit as suspenseful as her Shadow Children series -- which has sold more than 41/2 million copies -- and proves her, once again, to be a master of the page-turner.
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Slant
by Laura E. Williams
Lauren, a Korean-American adoptee, has been saving for years to pay for a special eye surgery that will deepen the crease of her eyelids. However, Lauren wonders whether the operation will make her more confident and popular, or if she can find that confidence within herself.
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Somebody's Daughter
by Marie Myung-Ok Lee
A "heartwarming and heartbreaking"* story of a Korean American girl's search for her roots Somebody's Daughter is the story of nineteen-year-old Sarah Thorson, who was adopted as a baby by a Lutheran couple in the Midwest. After dropping out of college, she decides to study in Korea and becomes more and more intrigued by her Korean heritage, eventually embarking on a crusade to find her birth mother. Paralleling Sarah's story is that of Kyung-sook, who was forced by difficult circumstances to let her baby be swept away from her immediately after birth, but who has always longed for her lost child.
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Whale Talk
by Chris Crutcher
A high-school bus provides surprising sanctuary for seven unlikely swim teammates who are, in the words of their coach, "A perennial road team. Mermen without a pond." These invisible kids resonate because of how the author sees them, believes in them, and lets them speak.
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The Face in My Mirror
by Maureen C. Wartski
As an infant, Mai was adoped straight off a boat from Hong Kong by Leo and Vivian Houston in Serena, Iowa. Now, at fifteen, a painful racial incident spurs her to find out more about her Vietnamese roots. The search takes her to Boston, where Mai's biological aunt, Lien Van Tranh, owns a restaurant. But her aunt proves to be less than cordial. Now Mai is more confused than ever, and the worst is yet to come . . .
