Children of intercountry adoption have complex histories that place them at high risk for difficulty or failure in school. Teachers and other school professionals rarely know how to test them, teach them, or meet their needs. This volume explains those needs and offers guidelines and suggestions for maximizing the educational performance of these children and helping them to meet their potential.

The volume includes research on children adopted from several countries, including Russia and former Soviet states, Romania, and China. Content includes information from adoption literature on English as a Second Language classes, as well as special education law and research. The volume also presents the stories of real children adopted from Romania, Russia, and China, along with their parents and their interactions with schools in the United States.

This volume is designed to give librarians and teachers guidance on the subject of adoption and foster care-both as themes in children's literature and as issues affecting many students. To help librarians and teachers gain a deeper understanding of this sensitive subject, Family Matters: Adoption and Foster Care in Children's Literature takes a close look at 115 works of children's literature that have themes related to adoption and foster care, including many that have received the Newberry Award, Caldecott Award, or other prestigious honors from the American Library Association. Family Matters is not just a digest of titles. It is an expert resource for addressing adoption and foster care in the classroom, both as a literary subject and as a personal issue with students. The book opens with an historical overview of adoption and foster care, then reviews level-appropriate titles by age group-K-grade 2, grades 3-5, and grades 6-8. Coverage includes discussions of the impact of adoption and foster care on normal development, as well as suggestions for safe language to use in the classroom, and fun, effective activities for each title. Includes 115 reviews of works of children's literature having themes related to adoption and foster care, grouped by grade levels K-2, 3-5, and 6-8 and including suggestions and comments for each Offers an overview with historic and contemporary perspectives on the issue of adoption Provides bibliographic listings of supporting works related to adoption and foster care as a literary theme and a classroom issue Presents an appendix listing additional works of children's literature on adoption and foster care grouped by grades K-2, 3-5, and 6-8