[Nevada Jen]

We have submitted to adopt a 13 year old boy from Foster Case. I know there are lots of Toddler adoption books out there but are there any on adopting teens and the issues that go with that?

[MilehighDad]

There are a couple of older child threads on this site, one under adoptive parents and one under special needs. Books have been talked about there, but the first I would suggest is "Three Little Words" by Ashley Rhodes-Courter. She was a preteen when she was adopted in the mid-90's, so it is current, and she is great at describing how she felt through foster care and being adopted. I have bought about 16 copies of this book to give to friends and family to help them understand what we are going through. I think it is awesome that you are considering adopting a teenager but you should never think that it will be easy. I hope for the best for him and for your family.
Good luck!

[mommytoEli]

the only suggestion i have is if you find one, only buy it if it was written by someone who adopted a teen, or was adopted as a teen. it is not good enough to buy one written by a psychologist who talks to teens. we read many books when adopting our older kids, who were 10 and 11 at that time....but NONE of those books helped us as much as making friend with families who had bt/dt. you know? even when we took the kids to counseling i wanted to jump across the table and be like, "do you even have a teen AT ALL?" teens are an interesting species....adopted and foster teens also have their own set of issues and needs. if you are really looking for some great feedback about a certain area and teens, i'd post here, rather than buy a book...but that is just me. i have a whole library of older child adoption books, and each one of them represents about 20 dollars i wish i would have spent on a movie out with my husband. lol. oh well.