Book 1

Book Review #1: “The White Swan Express”
The White Swan Express, by Jean Davies Okimoto and Elaine M. Aoki and Illustrated by Meilo So, is a story about Adoption. We meet four different families who are all beginning a journey to Guangzhou, China looking to adopt their baby girls. All four of the families are very different in composition. The first family we meet is Beth and Lewis Maynard from Miami, a very traditional man and woman couple. Next we have Andrea Lee and Charlotte Appleford, a lesbian couple from Vashon Island. Then from Minnetonka, Minnesota is Rebecca Mandel, a single woman ready to start a family. Finally we have Howard and Jessica Suzuki, an Asian couple from Toronto. The book chronicles their journey from North America to China where the four families meet and become fast friends along the way bonding over the experience of adopting a child. These four little girls, Wu Li, Li Shen, Qian Ye, and Chun Mei Ni are welcomed with an enormous amount of love into these families and brought to their new homes in North America by their new parent/s. Because of the special journey these families share they remain in touch over the years, celebrating holiday both Chinese and American. This book is an exemplary piece of Adoption literature. All of the characters are very realistic and yet, are so unique. The author makes sure to cover the gamete when creating the main characters, including a lesbian couple, a single mother, a traditional man and woman couple and an Asian couple. When reading this story you can feel the love come through their adoption journey.