My Father's Eyes

Rating:
Summary: You'll Need a Full Box of Kleenex for This One
Review: "My Fathers Eyes" isn't just about Cheryle Timbrook Jennings as an adopted child and her search for meaning. It's about the insecurities and fears we all face inside. Her step-by-step emotional struggle for self-worth and acceptance cast an ugly shadow on a society that accepts moms and dads running away from their problems, responsibilities and sadly enough their families. Ignoring reality doesn't make it go away, Cheryle shows us, especially if you are the one being ignored. She weaves you through an unforgettable journey of heartache and immense courage as she attempts to set her record straight. "My Fathers Eyes" is a mirror that will inspire you to look at your own life and trace your way back to your own responsibilities. Her message is a resounding one of "People are not to be ignored but embraced."

Rating:
Summary: Recommended reading for adoptees & their adoptive parents.
Review: Cheryle Jennings wrote My Father's Eyes for readers who have been adopted out or given away by their parents to others to raise. She seeks to give adoptive and birth parents helpful insight into how the situation of a childhood adoption feels to the now grown-up adoptee. She addresses such very real issues for adoptees as loving the adopting mothers and fathers yet yearning to know about their biologically parents. Especially when these feelings on the part of adult adoptees are not acknowledged or even perceived by the adoptive parent or legal guardian. My Father's Eyes is an intensely personal story with universal implications, deftly and sensitively written, and highly recommended reading for adoptees seeking to understanding their own yearnings, men and women who are being approached by their now adult children once given up to others; and for their adoptive parents and guardians needing to understand those feelings as well.

Rating:
Summary: Search for a missing half.
Review: In this in-family adoption (the grandparents adopted the out-of-wedlock child) the adoptee knew her birth mother and had many questions answered, but always wondered who her father was -- the one secret her birth mother refused to share. Practically at death's door, her birth mother finally admitted who the father was, and Cheryl's search began to find an ending. This book should be read by families who are faced with an unplanned pregnancy and think that "keeping it in the family" is best. The author tells her story with much insight and pathos. It is easy to imagine her hunger for the truth. Her journey is to self-acceptance, and she arrives, finally, and is able to share her love for the missing parent she always wondered about. The book could have used a good editor to hone it into shape, but as a raw manuscript, it has value.