Last year’s Adoption Reading Challenge, hosted by The Chronicles of Munchkin Land, was a success! If you didn’t read all of your books and feel that you failed; it was still a success. People who aren’t touched by adoption read books they never would have read. People who are touched by adoption read books they never would have read. We expanded our knowledge, ranted a little bit and had a lot of fun. With books. That? Is a success, my friends.
As such, The Chronicles of Munchkin Land is hosting the Adoption Reading Challenge again in 2012. The landing page to share your links is already live. The reading levels and number of challenge books are the same again this year:
Level 1: Read 3 books about adoption, non-fiction or fiction.
Level 2: Read 6 books about adoption, 3 non-fiction/3 fiction.
Level 3: Read 12 books about adoption, 6 non-fiction/6 fiction.
Level 4: Read 20 books about adoption, 10 non-fiction/10 fiction.
That’s a lot of reading if you choose Level 4, but it was really interesting for me. I had to go out and beyond what my experience is (open, domestic adoption) and into other realms I hadn’t before (international adoption, adoptee rights, and so on). The rules, on the official page, are also the same as last year, with this addition that explains why people not touched by adoption might want to join this challenge.
Adoption is a huge theme in books (and movies/TV). Reading it with that in mind, to look at how it is treated in both fiction and non-fiction is a great way to become mindful of something that might be outside of your immediate experience.
The truth is that adoption is mentioned in all sorts of popular books (think Twilight to Jodi Picoult to even the books our children read). Recognizing it when you read it, talking about it and understanding why some depictions of adoption are detrimental to social change is not a bad idea whether you’re touched by adoption or not.
That said, I hope you will participate again in the Adoption Reading Challenge. You can sign up below and leave your links for reviews on the main landing page. Doing so helps others figure out what to read as they go. (Or, you know, what not to read if it’s a truly horrid book.)
For more information and to sign-up, please see this post.
My Progress:
- The Red Thread by Ann Hood
