Beneath a Tall Tree

Rating:
Summary: Beneath a tall tree
Review: Having recently been involved in a reunion with a sister that we did not know existed, this book (as well as other Jean Strauss books) gives valuable insight into the feelings of the adopted individual as well as some of the feelings of the other members of the family circle. Jean's struggle and sometimes blunt feelings toward her birth mother open up a new area of human feeling. How should we relate to this new person in our life and all these new relatives? All the details of the reunion and building a new relationship with siblings and her mother over the years gives valuable knowledge to others involved in their own reunion process. Jean shows us that a "blended" family can happen. She has not forgotten her adoptive family that raised her, but she also appreicates the family ties of her natural family. This book illustrates that you can have more than one mother/father. You can have many siblings and extended family and make it all work. We have done this in our family situation. This book is well worth the read. I highly recommend it to anyone in the reunion/adoption process.

Rating:
Summary: Great for adoptees looking to find out more
Review: I am an adoptee and I'm currently in a stage of my life where I'm becoming more curious to find out about my birthmother and my background. I was kind of scared and didn't really know where to start, but this book really helped me to realize that I CAN do something about it and that it's really nothing to be scared of. It gave me the perspective of the birthmother as well, wanting to know about the daughter she gave up. I have a feeling that when the time comes to contact my birthmother, she'll be more receptive than not - something I was very unsure of before I read this book. Jean Strauss and her book have kind of helped me to get the ball rolling and start seriously thinking about contacting my birthmother.

Rating:
Summary: Must read for anyone in the triad
Review: I discovered this book quite by accident. I had already read Birthright by Jean Strauss. I was doing a search on Amazon for a review of that book for a friend when this title came up. When I finally got a copy, I couldn't put it down. Simply, it is an incredibly well written book on searching for one's roots. In the end, its both one's adoptive and biological ties that matter. I particularly appreciated the author's final family tree which included both her birth family and adoptive family. The insight I received from this book will be invaluable to my wife and I as we raise our 7 yo son and 2 yo daughter who were both adopted as infants. Many thanks to Jean Strauss.

Rating:
Summary: Five oars for Jean Strauss
Review: If "beneath a tall tree" doesn't tug at your heart and bring tears to your eyes, go see your doctor for a checkup. Strauss bares her soul in this fascinating adventure about her life. Besides being enormously helpful to adoptees, it provides a deep, raw look into the mindset of an adoptee. Her fluid style makes this an easy read.

Rating:
Summary: Five oars for Jean Strauss
Review: If "beneath a tall tree" doesn't tug at your heart and bring tears to your eyes, go see your doctor for a checkup. Strauss bares her soul in this fascinating adventure about her life. Besides being enormously helpful to adoptees, it provides a deep, raw look into the mindset of an adoptee. Her fluid style makes this an easy read.

Rating:
Summary: starts tiny, ends huge
Review: Jean Strauss has succeeded in writing the first memoir I have ever read that I really didn't want to put down. In the end I had to hand my new baby to my husband, and take myself away from all distractions, because I was completely hooked.

Jean Strauss begins by telling the story of her childhood with her adoptive parents, who she loved dearly, and her difficult relationship with her troubled adoptive brother. She goes on to write with disarming honesty about her search for, and ultimate reunion with, her birth mother, her birth mother's birth mother, her seven siblings and, briefly, her birth father. By the end of the book the fifth grader, who knew nothing about her biological roots, has discovered she's a Mayflower descendent, who's ancestors go back to Charlemagne.

After we've laughed and cried as this brave, appealing, intense, funny woman takes us with her on her journey, we realize that know a lot more about the true meaning of our own 'families' that when we started reading.

"Beneath a Tall Tree" is a true gift. A startling, funny, heart-wrenching family mystery that will move you long after you have finished the last page.