Caldecott Medalist Allen Say, who has written about his own family’s connections with both Japan and America, here tells a story of an Asian girl who is processing her growing awareness of her adoption.
The plot is simple: Allison is happy to receive an ethnic dress like her doll wears, but grows quiet as she looks at her family in the mirror and notice that the only one who looks like her is her doll. Allison asks where her doll came from, and her father tells how they brought both Allison and her doll back from “a far country”. (Allison calls her doll by the Chinese term for “Little Sister”, but receives a Japanese kimono and obi for a gift. Leaving Allison’s nation of origin ambiguous helps any Asian child relate to the illustrations, and any child relate to the words.)
Allison is shocked. (Likely Allison has been told about her adoption before; however sometimes the meaning of a statement hits you only after you’ve heard it several times.)
“You’re not my mommy and daddy?” Her parents assure her that they are, but she asks about her other mommy and daddy, whether they wanted her, and if she can see a picture of them. Her parents say they are sure that she was wanted, but that her first parents couldn’t keep her, but wanted her to have a mother and a father.
The story plot is simple; the watercolor illustrations are gentle and show a range of emotions on the faces of Allison, her family and friends.
The words, however, are sometimes brutally honest. At various points, Allison yells at her parents, “You’re not my real mommy and daddy!”, destroys her father’s baseball and mitt (after which her father yells at her), and cuts apart all her dolls which do not have straight black hair. When Allison asks her friends at day care if they have the same eyes as their parents and if they have “another mommy who gave you away”, the children can only stare at her, increasing her sense of isolation. (Although “gave away” is not preferred adoption language for a birthmother making an adoption plan, but it’s probably what Allison thought at the time.)
Allison is also startled to realize that Allison may not be her original name.
Allison befriends a cat who needs a home. Her parents say the cat can become part of their family. They warn her that he could chew her toys. Allison says she won’t get angry, and apologizes for wrecking her parents’ things. Without a lot of preaching, it seems like a circle has been closed. The implication is that Allison knows that she can love the cat, and her parents certainly love her.
Please see these related blogs:
Book Review: You’re Not My Real Mother!
Book Review: Did My First Mother Love Me?
Book Review: Love, Adoption, and Brownies with Sprinkles