"you Should Be Grateful" by Angela Tucker

"you Should Be Grateful"

Stories of Race, Identity, and Transracial Adoption

Angela Tucker

Beacon Press · Print & ebook · January 30, 2024

An adoption expert and transracial adoptee herself examines the unique perspectives and challenges these adoptees have as they navigate multiple cultures “Your parents are so amazing for adopting you!

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Who it’s for
Angela Tucker brings adoptees’ perspectives to the layered realities of race, family, love, and belonging.
Themes
Transracial adoption, Racism and classism, Family, love, and belonging
Genres
Adoption & Fostering, Race & Ethnic Relations, Black & African American Lives

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About this book

An adoption expert and transracial adoptee herself examines the unique perspectives and challenges these adoptees have as they navigate multiple cultures “Your parents are so amazing for adopting you! You should be grateful that you were adopted.” Angela Tucker is a Black woman, adopted from foster care by white parents. She has heard this microaggression her entire life, usually from well-intentioned strangers who view her adoptive parents as noble saviors.

Continue reading

She is grateful for many aspects of her life, but being transracially adopted involves layers of rejection, loss, and complexity that cannot be summed up so easily. In “You Should Be Grateful,” Tucker centers the experiences of adoptees to share deeply personal stories, well-researched history, and engrossing anecdotes from mentorship sessions with adopted youth. These perspectives challenge the fairy-tale narrative of adoption, giving way to a fuller story that explores the impacts of racism, classism, family, love, and belonging.

Beyond the Fairy Tale

Angela Tucker brings adoptees’ perspectives to the layered realities of race, family, love, and belonging.

Come here for

  • Personal stories alongside history and mentorship-session anecdotes
  • A fuller account of transracial adoption beyond familiar assumptions

Expect

  • A candid look at rejection, loss, racism, and classism
  • Adoptee experiences centered in a nuanced, accessible narrative

Where it sits

Adoption & Fostering100%
Black & African American Lives65%
Race & Ethnic Relations64%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Black & African American Lives
  • Adoption & Fostering
  • Race & Ethnic Relations
Authors
Angela Tucker
Publisher
Beacon Press
Published
January 30, 2024
Format
Print & ebook
Theme
Transracial adoption · Racism and classism · Family, love, and belonging
Reading lane
Black & African American Lives