Heart Picked: Elizabeth’s Adoption Tale

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Heart Picked: Elizabeth’s Adoption Tale was written by Sara Elizabeth Neal Crutcher. She wrote this book based on her own personal experience being adopted when she was little. She is the first-time author who is behind this touching and personal narrative that affirms love is what truly makes a family. Sara believes her greatest blessing came at just six weeks old in Greensboro, North Carolina when she was adopted into a loving and supportive family. At five years old, Sara recalls her parents sitting her down to explain her adoption. Although at the time she did not fully understand what adoption meant, she was reassured that she was heart picked and surrounded by unconditional love. Sara wrote Heart Picked: Elizabeths Adoption Tale to share a glimpse of her journey and also to support adopted children and the families who love them. Sara Elizabeth Neal Crutcher is an advertising executive, entrepreneur and blogger. She graduated from Hampton University with a degree in advertising. She enjoys spending time with her family and friends, traveling, reading novels, and playing her violin.[1]

Summary

Heart Picked tells the story about a young Black girl, Elizabeth, who has been adopted by a Black couple. It was family week at Elizabeth’s school, and her dad was set to visit her classroom. Elizabeth was worried about what her classmates might think of her because she looked different from her dad, so she decided to dress up to avert her classmates’ attention of their obvious differences. Her mother tells her that she was “heart picked” and that people do not have to look alike in order to love each other.[2]

Pros

Kiersten rated this book five stars because she thought this book was successfully talked about a sensitive issue subjects such as adoption and skin tone differences in a subtle way that was not stereotypical or indicative of a negative portrayal, while also not brushing the topics under the rug. The illustrations were rich and positively correlate to the scenes of the story. They also help to thicken the plot and hold children’s interest. Adoption is a topic that she never knew much about. This book gives children a plethora of questions to ask themselves and others, while also allowing for questions to be posed by teachers or parents. This story is a beautiful one that helps promote adoption in the Black community.[2]

Carmen as a verified purchaser talked about this book, she thought it was the best book she had ever read because it talked about an adoption for children and which simply and elegantly addresses a real concern of adoptees, being different and conspicuous as an adoptive family. This book was perfect for a few reasons. First, it was written by an adoptee, rather than an adoptive parent, and it shows. Also, it's about a black adoptive family and something which she hadn't seen before in adoption stories for children and which she thought was awesome (and which challenges the preconceived notions of who adopts and who was adopted especially in the US). The author simply and directly addresses how to deal with questions about looking different from each other, and gives kids and adults something to say back: "you don't have to look the same to be a family".[1]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Heart Picked: Elizabeth's Adoption Tale. amazon.com. Retrieved January 23rd, 2021
  2. 2.0 2.1 Heart Picked: Elizabeth's Adoption Tale. goodreads.com. Retrieved January 23rd, 2021.