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Somewhere Sisters
Somewhere Sisters: A Story of Adoption, Identity, and the Meaning of Family | Erika Hayasaki
4 posts | 2 read | 2 to read
Identical twins Isabella and H were born in Vietnam and raised on opposite sides of the world, each knowing little about the others existence, until they were reunited as teenagers, against all odds. The twins were born in Nha Trang, Vietnam, in 1998, where their mother struggled to care for them. H was taken in by their biological aunt, and grew up in a rural village, going to school, and playing outside with the neighbors. They had sporadic electricity and frequent monsoons. Hs twin sister, Loan, spent time in an orphanage before a wealthy, white American family adopted her and renamed her Isabella. Isabella grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, with a nonbiological sister, Olivia, also adopted from Vietnam. Isabella and Olivia attended a predominantly white Catholic school, played soccer, and prepared for college. But when Isabellas adoptive mother learned of Isabellas biological twin back in Vietnam, all of their lives changed forever. Award-winning journalist Erika Hayasaki spent years and hundreds of hours interviewing each of the birth and adoptive family members and tells the girls incredible story from their perspectives, challenging conceptions about adoption and what it means to give a child a good life. Hayasaki contextualizes the sisters experiences with the fascinating and often sinister history of twin studies, the nature versus nurture debate, and intercountry and transracial adoption, as well as the latest scholarship and conversation surrounding adoption today, especially among adoptees. For readers of All You Can Ever Know and American Baby, Somewhere Sisters is a richly textured, moving story of sisterhood and coming-of-age, told through the remarkable lives of young women who have redefined the meaning of family for themselves.
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ReadingisMyPassion
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This book was so much more than I expected. I thought it was just the story of identical twin Vietnamese girls (Loan and Hà) separated while still infants. One was given to an orphanage and adopted by an American family, while the other twin was given to her aunt to raise. The girls didn‘t know the other one existed until they were older. That in itself made for an interesting story.

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TorieStorieS
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Happy Publication Week! I can‘t resist a book about twins- and interestingly this is the second book this month that I have read about identical twins, who were adopted and with an Illinois connection! Hayasaki, with extensive research and sensitivity relays the story of these sisters- as well as details and issues surrounding international adoptions, focusing on Vietnam & the US. Fascinating & illuminating, this makes a great discussion starter!

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SilversReviews
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“An incredible portrait of Vietnamese twins raised on opposite sides of the world, which challenges conceptions about transnational and transracial adoption…”

FULL POST: https://tinyurl.com/mp4ve6r3

@ehayasaki
@algonquinbooks
#somewheresisters

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Rhondareads
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An emotionally moving story of adoption Identity and the meaning of family @AlgonquinBooks