Flight of the Puffin

Flight of the Puffin 

by Ann Braden 

Language: English 

New York : Penguin Young Readers Group, 2021. 

229 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm. 

ISBN: 9781984816061 ; 1984816063 

Summary: Told in multiple voices, seventh-grader Libby sets off a chain of events that brings hope and encouragement to four different individuals across the country who are dealing with bullies, acceptance, homelessness, and grief. 

Available: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1984816063/

Hjalte Donut 2 - venner, som k*****

Hjalte Donut 2 - venner, som k***** 

by Anja Hitz 

Language: Danish 

[Helsingør] : ABC, 2021. 

137 sider : ill. 

ISBN: 9788779169470 ; 8779169473 

Summary: Det er ikke helt nemt at være Hjalte. Mulle fra donorgruppen vil igen have Hjalte til at hjælpe sig, og endnu engang handler det om kys og kærester. Hjalte får tilbud om at være spilfigur, men han synes, han ligner en syg bæver på Veras tegninger. Mor kritiserer Alex og har svært ved at dele Hjalte med ham. Og så er der det med Krusemynte. Er hun og Hjalte bare bedste venner, eller er de blevet noget andet ... 

Available: https://www.amazon.com/Hjalte-Donut-2-Anja-Hitz/dp/8779169473/

Donor Child: a child of love

Donor Child: a child of love 

by Emma Grønbæk 

Language: English and Danish 

Denmark: Saxo, 2021. 

123 pages 

ISBN: 8740401863 ; 9788740401868 

Summary: In this book, you will meet me, Emma, and my family. I share my story of being a donor child, how it has impacted my life, my parents' involuntary childlessness, and how we have dealt with donor conception in my family. Against the advice from doctors, my parents choose from the beginning to tell me the truth about the help they had received to become a family. Today, my parents have three children, all of whom have come into the world through fertility treatments. Our story is not unique. Many couples worldwide have difficulty having children and this means that up to every 10th child is born with the help of fertility treatments. I have invited leading Danish specialists to put my personal story in perspective with their knowledge of fertility treatment, choice of donor, relationships, and family life. Read the book as a impute on the debate regarding donor use and how it can influence children who are conceived through fertility treatments with donor conception. 

Available: https://www.amazon.com/Donor-Child-child-Emma-Groenbaek/dp/8740401863/

Brave new humans : the dirty reality of donor conception

Brave new humans : the dirty reality of donor conception 

by Sarah Dingle 

Language: English 

Richmond, VIC : Hardie Grant Books, 2021. 

vi, 345 pages ; 24 cm. 

ISBN: 9781743796382 ; 1743796382 

Summary: Journalist Sarah Dingle was 27 when she learned that her identity was a lie. Over dinner one night, her mother casually mentioned Sarah had been conceived using a sperm donor. The man who'd raised Sarah wasn't her father; in fact, she had no idea who her father was. Or who she really was. As the shock receded, Sarah put her professional skills to work and began to investigate her own existence. Thus began a ten-year journey to understand who she was - digging through hospital records, chasing leads, and taking a DNA test - that finally led her to her biological origins. What she discovered along the way was shocking: hospital records routinely destroyed, trading of eggs and sperm, women dead, donors exploited, and hundreds of thousands of donor-conceived people globally who will never know who they are. But there's one thing this industry hasn't banked on: the children of the baby business taking on their makers. In a profoundly personal way, Brave New Humans shines a light on the global fertility business today - a booming and largely unregulated industry that takes a startlingly lax approach to huge ethical concerns, not least our fundamental human need to know who we are, and where we come from. 

Available: https://www.amazon.com/Brave-New-Humans-Reality-Conception/dp/1743796382/

Proud of me

 

Proud of me 

by Sarah Hagger-Holt 

Language: English 

London : Usborne Publishing Ltd., 2021. 

1 volume ; 20 cm. 

ISBN: 9781474966245 ; 1474966241 

Summary: Becky and Josh are almost-twins, with two mums and the same anonymous donor dad. Josh can't wait until he's eighteen, the legal age when he can finally contact his donor, and he'll do anything to find out more - even if it involves lying. Becky can't stop thinking about her new friend, Carli. Could her feelings for Carli be a sign of something more? Becky and Josh both want their parents to be proud of them...but right now, they're struggling to even accept themselves. 

Available: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Proud-Me-Sarah-Hagger-Holt/dp/1474966241/

The people we choose

 

The people we choose 

by Katelyn Detweiler 

Language: English 

New York : Holiday House, [2021]. 

304 p. : cm. 

ISBN: 9780823446643 ; 0823446646 

Summary: When Calliope Silversmith meets her new neighbor Max, their chemistry is instantaneous, but the revelation of her biological father's identity throws her whole life into disarray. Calliope Silversmith has always had just two friends in her small Pennsylvania town, Ginger and Noah, and she's fine with that. She's never wanted anything more than her best friends, her moms, their house in the woods, and their family-run yoga studio--except maybe knowing who her sperm donor is. Her curiosity has been building for years, and she can finally find out this summer when she turns eighteen. But when Max and his family move into the sad old house across the woods from Calliope, she realizes it's nice to get to know someone new, so nice that she decides to break her no dating rule. The stability of her longtime trio wavers as she and Max start to spend more and more time together. When Calliope finally finds out who her sperm donor is, she learns a truth more shocking and unfathomable than she could have ever dreamed: her donor is Max's father. How is this even possible? As she and Max struggle to redefine their friendship, Calliope realizes that she can turn a horrific situation into something positive by recognizing and accepting that family is both the one we are born into and the one we choose to make. 

Available: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0823446646/

Saint Ivy: kind at all costs

 

Saint Ivy: kind at all costs 

by Laurie Morrison 

Language: English 

New York : Amulet Books, 2021. 

336 p. : cm. 

ISBN: 141974125X ; 9781419741258 

Summary: A thoughtful middle-grade novel about caring for others and for yourself––and what it truly means to be kind and vulnerable. Thirteen-year-old Ivy Campbell has always been a good kid: She supports her soccer-star brother, bakes with her nana, and puts her friends’ needs before her own. So of course, Ivy is 100 percent supportive when her mom decides to be a gestational surrogate, carrying and giving birth to her friends’ baby. But when Ivy finds out the surrogacy treatment worked and her mom is pregnant—and has been for weeks—she’s shocked that she’s jealous and worried about what others will think. And most of all, she’s ashamed that she isn’t reacting to this news in the right way. The Ivy way. Ivy is determined to prove to herself that she’s just as unselfish as she’s always believed, and she gets the chance to do that when she receives an anonymous email from someone who needs her help. But the more Ivy dives into helping this anonymous person, the further she gets from the people she loves—and from the person who she wants to be. 

Available: https://www.amazon.com/Saint-Ivy-Kind-All-Costs/dp/141974125X

First Day of My Life

 

First Day of My Life 

by Lisa Williamson 

Language: English 

Oxford : David Fickling Books, 2021. 

p. : cm. 

ISBN: 9781788451536 ; 1788451538 

Summary: A brand new YA novel from bestselling, award-winning author Lisa Williamson! A love letter to best friendship, first loves, and unexpected surprises, and a powerful reminder that every day is the first day of the rest of your life. Best friends Frankie and Jojo do everything together - so when Jojo goes missing on GCSE results day, Frankie knows something must be seriously wrong. Then news breaks that a baby has been stolen. When Frankie finally gets a return call from Jojo and hears a crying baby in the background, she can't help but jump to conclusions. She asks her ex-boyfriend Ram to help her track down Jojo but he's less than convinced by her theory. Jojo is the most reliable person he knows - there's got to be another explanation. Right? As the race to find Jojo begins, it becomes clear there are three sides to this story. Friendships are put to the ultimate test as Frankie and Ram are forced to work together to find out the truth - even if that truth destroys everything. 

Available: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1788451538/