An Adoptee Lexicon

by Karen Pickell

Lyrical and informative, An Adoptee Lexicon  is a glossary of adoption terminology from the viewpoint of an adult adoptee. Contemplating religion, politics, science, and human rights, Karen Pickell, who was born and adopted in the late 1960s, intersperses personal commentary and snippets from her own experience with history and statistics pertaining to child development and the adoption industry. The collection of micro essays is presented as an organically ordered glossary, along with a robust list of sources and suggested reading as well as an alphabetical index, creating layers of association between words commonly used when discussing adoption. Pickell draws connections between contemporary American political issues and the social climate that led to a tsunami of adoptions in the decades following World War II through the early 1970s—a period known as the Baby Scoop Era—and also touches on the complexity of transracial and international adoptions. Throughout An Adoptee Lexicon , the focus remains firmly on adopted people—their perceptions, their needs, and their right to fully exist in exactly the way non-adopted people do.

Genres: Adoption

116 pages, ebook

Published October 18, 2018

About the author

Karen Pickell is the founding editor of Raised Voice Press (rasiedvoicepress.com), a micro press publishing creative nonfiction, and of Adoptee Reading (adopteereading.com), a catalog of books that focus on the adoptee experience. Karen holds a Master of Arts in Professional Writing from Kennesaw State University and was the 2014 editor of THE REACH OF SONG, the annual anthology of the Georgia Poetry Society. She previously served on the board of the Georgia Writers Association and as associate editor of the online literary journal Flycatcher. Karen has also been a contributor and editor at Lost Daughters, a collaborative blog written by adopted women. Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, she lived near Atlanta for over a decade before settling in the Tampa Bay area. Learn more at karenpickell.com.

Reviews

[Kaye · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful little book that combines a glossary, of sorts, about adoption with tidbits of a memoir woven in. Karen has a lovely way with words, and this adoptee cried many times during the reading because the words rang so true. Another great example of adoptee voice!

[D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

The five stars are from when I learned of, then purchased, this book. Five stars for it simply existing. Stuck in an airport for an entire day, this book my companion. Between cancelled flights and delays (how parallel to adopted life, no? Some things not going as planned or hoped for?) every chapter of this book soaked into my being. The author literally sharpens focus not only on what we say about and around adoption and adopted people but how we say it...and why commonplace language hurts or heals, belittles or empowers.

It is not an angry rant nor political statement nor poorly written memoir. This book, slim but loaded with thoughtful power and realness, contains an adoptee's essays about navigating the Adoptee landscape of labels and stigmas.

I am grateful to have it as reference and as a guide to recognizing I am not alone. Touching, raw, so beautifully written.

[Frans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got a lot out of this...I read it to better understand the life journey of adoptees and the issues they face.

It'd almost be better to call this an omnibus rather than a book as it's a broad collection of dissertations, thoughts, statements and essays. It also covers many of the ethical, political and religious issues (mainly from a US perspective).

This helped me to begin to understand some of the issues adoptees have to deal with.