Twice a Daughter: A Search for Identity, Family, and Belonging

(Paperback)

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Description

Huge potential market: An estimated 100 million Americans have adoption in their immediate family . A timely memoir with special interest for its target audience: With the huge surge in DNA testing, more people are learning about biological family they never knew they had, making this books subject especially timely. Author with community connections: The authors ties to/within the adoption community are strong; the opportunities for promoting the book directly to its target audience will be many.

Reviews

2022 16th Annual National Indie Excellence Awards Finalist in Parenting & Family
2022 International Book Awards Winner in Parenting & Family
2022 International Book Awards Finalist in Best New Nonfiction, Nonfiction: Narrative, and Womens Issues / Womens Studies
2022 Independent Press Awards Distinguished Favorite in Parenting & Family
2021 CIBA Nellie Bly Book Awards Finalist
2021 NYC Big Book Awards Winner in Personal Growth
2021 NYC Big Book Awards Distinguished Favorite in Parenting & Family
2021 Living Now Awards Gold Winner in MemoirFemale
2021 Nonfiction Book Awards Silver Winner in Biography & MemoirGeneral

2021 Readers' Favorite Book Awards Honorable Mention in Non-Fiction: Relationships
Indiana Press Award Winner in Memoir
2022 BooksShelf's Nonfiction Writing Contest Honorable Mention

An engaging, endearing chronicle of a womans quest to find her origins.
Kirkus Reviews

The award-winningTwice a Daughter: A Search for Identity, Family, and Belongingby Julie Ryan McGue is a compelling, poignant memoir about the search for truth and belonging.
Readers' Favorite

With reverence for mystery, Julie Ryan McGue navigates a silence among family known and unknown to unearth her identity. Twice a Daughter is an act of patience and couragethe courage to confront the past and the patience to endure the path toward revelation. Weaving together humor and pathos, McGues tale of redemption offers hope to anyone seeking to know and be known as they truly are.
Jonathan Callard, writer and teacher at the University of Pittsburgh

Rarely does an adoptee rights advocate and legislator have the chance to witness the results of their efforts in such a profound and personal way as in Twice a Daughter. Julies success in opening her sealed adoption records did not just gratify and inspire, it lifted me up! Every adoptee deserves to know their identity, the first chapter of their life, and the circumstances of their birth. It is their personal story and a basic human right. Keep up the fight!
Sara Feigenholtz, adoptee and Illinois State Senator

Julie McGues quest memoir is an extraordinary account of a womans midlife search for her birth parents and the medical history she and her twin sister desperately need. Julie engagingly narrates a roller coaster ride of challenges and triumphs. I was moved by this suspenseful tale that ultimately celebrates the meaning of family in all its forms.
Joelle Fraser, author of The Territory of Men and The Forest House

This book is about lies and secrets, disappointment and loss, and hope and wonder. A true story that details how the pursuit of truth and healing becomes the alchemy that turns pain into gold.
Sara Connell, author of Bringing in Finn

Why didnt my birth mother keep me Was I a bad baby Do I have siblings What about my medical history These are some of the universal questions asked by adoptees both young and old. Although a memoir, Twice a Daughter is also the tale of every adoptees search for answers, connection, relationship, and family. Its a must-read for all members of the adoption triad: birth parents, adoptive parents, and adoptees.
Nancy Golden, cofounder of the Midwest Adoption Center

A masterful storyteller, Julie Ryan McGue probes her inner life as one of an adopted pair of twin sisters who are on a search for biological roots in their big, fun Irish Catholic adoptive family. In Twice a Daughter, the road to genetic connection may be fraught with hidden roadblocks but the destinations open up to the widest horizons of the heart authenticity, courage, wholeness, and compassion.
Diane Dewey, author of Fixing the Fates: An Adoptees Story of Truth and Lies

Julie conveys the range of emotions felt by adopted persons who yearn for answers and connection with biological relatives. She allows the reader access to her most private experiences of vulnerability, pain, fear, anger, and joy. This book reminds us that there are losses, both ambiguous and clear, at the foundation of adoption. They are experienced differently by birth parents, adopted persons, adoptive parents, and other family members. There is power in sharing these accounts with others, and much to be gained by learning to listen to someones most deeply felt experiences.
Lisa Francis, LCSW, Post Adoption Services, Catholic Charities, Chicago

Julie McGue entered the labyrinth of her adoption search with many questions: Who am I Where did I come from What tribe do I belong to Her memoir is not just another tale of an adoptees search for truth; her craft and candor turn this into an inspirational story of perseverance and resiliency, one with well-deserved payoffs. Ultimately, this is a story about the discoveries that searching for the truth revealshow it sets you free and offers the gift of love.
Linda Joy Myers, founder of the National Association of Memoir Writers and author of Dont Call Me Mother

Twice a Daughter is an enchanting story about searching and fighting for hidden information and what it means to be adoptedto wrestle with love, pain, rejection, and acceptance. We can all find pieces of our own stories reflected in Julies compelling words. This is a must-read for everyoneespecially those touched by adoption.
Linda Fiore, director of Adoption Center for Family Building

Twice a Daughter: A Search for Identity, Family, and Belongingis a marvelous book. . . . This memoir will take you on an emotional rollercoaster and move you to tears. A page-turning read that is as affecting as it is superbly written . . .
The Book Commentary

Author Bio

Julie Ryan McGue is a memoirist, blogger, and columnist, as well as an adult domestic adoptee and an identical twin. She writes two weekly blogs: Touched By Adoption, which deals with the complicated topic of adoption, and That Girl, This Life, which features snippets of her daily life. That Girl, This Life is also the name of the monthly column she pens for The Beacher, a weekly paper serving the beach communities of Northwest Indiana. She has served multiple terms on the board of the Midwest Adoption Center and is a member of the American Adoption Congress. Besides her laptop, Julie loves her Steinway, Nikon camera, and tennis racquet. Married for over thirty-five years, she is the mother of four adult children and splits her time between Northwest Indiana and Sarasota, Florida.