Far From the Tree is big story with well-developed main characters, Grace, Maya and Joaquin. They are teenage biological siblings from the same birth mother, who initially have no idea the other exists until they experience separate life-altering events. Grace becomes a teen mom who makes the heart-shattering decision to relinquish her newborn daughter to a semi-open adoption arrangement. Maya is struggling with her identity as someone who looks nothing like the family she’s been adopted into, plus she deals with an alcoholic parent. Joaquin, who is aging out of the foster care system very soon, struggles with attachment and trust issues. It begins with Grace, grieving the loss to adoption of her baby, who tells her mom and dad that she wants to find her own birth mother. The three teen siblings eventually meet up and go on a quest to learn about what happened to their original mother.
While the writing, especially at the beginning of this book seems a bit forced and stiff, the book “warms up” as more and more details unfold. Stick with it, folks. The reading experience evolves from an ABC after school special, (I am dating myself), to multi-faceted story-telling. Chapters are divided between the viewpoints of Grace, Maya and Joaquin but told in 3rd person.
Author Robin Benway gets the adoption aspects right in this book. While not an adoptee nor connected closely to anything adoption, she shares in an interview, https://www.slj.com/story/robin-benway-opens-national-book-award-winning-ya-novel, how she researched and considered the story plots for her adoptee characters and their respective adoptive parents. She addresses different forms of adoption, assorted emotions which often show up later in an adoptee’s life and also Grace’s unique position as both an adoptee and a birth parent herself.
This award-winning book is available on Amazon.
