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Between Light and Shadow: A Guatemalan Girl's Journey through Adoption
“An adoption professional once told me, ‘At its best, there is no adoption system as good as Guatemala’s. At its worst, there is none worse.’”—from the foreword by Kevin Kreutner
In Between Light and Shadow veteran journalist Jacob Wheeler puts a human face on the Guatemalan adoption industry, which has exploited, embraced, and sincerely sought to improve the lives of the Central American nation’s poorest children. Fourteen-year-old Ellie, abandoned at age seven and adopted by a middle-class family from Michigan, is at the center of this story. Wheeler re-creates the painful circumstances of Ellie’s abandonment, her adoption and Americanization, her search for her birth mother, and her joyous and haunting return to Guatemala, where she finds her teenage brothers—unleashing a bond that transcends language and national borders.
Following Ellie’s journey, Wheeler peels back the layers of an adoption economy that some view as an unscrupulous baby-selling industry that manipulates impoverished indigenous Guatemalan women, and others herald as the only chance for poor children to have a better life. Through Ellie, Wheeler allows us to see what all this means in personal and practical terms—and to understand how well-intentioned and sometimes humanitarian first-world wealth can collide with the extreme poverty, despair, misogyny, racism, and violent history of Guatemala.
In Between Light and Shadow veteran journalist Jacob Wheeler puts a human face on the Guatemalan adoption industry, which has exploited, embraced, and sincerely sought to improve the lives of the Central American nation’s poorest children. Fourteen-year-old Ellie, abandoned at age seven and adopted by a middle-class family from Michigan, is at the center of this story. Wheeler re-creates the painful circumstances of Ellie’s abandonment, her adoption and Americanization, her search for her birth mother, and her joyous and haunting return to Guatemala, where she finds her teenage brothers—unleashing a bond that transcends language and national borders.
Following Ellie’s journey, Wheeler peels back the layers of an adoption economy that some view as an unscrupulous baby-selling industry that manipulates impoverished indigenous Guatemalan women, and others herald as the only chance for poor children to have a better life. Through Ellie, Wheeler allows us to see what all this means in personal and practical terms—and to understand how well-intentioned and sometimes humanitarian first-world wealth can collide with the extreme poverty, despair, misogyny, racism, and violent history of Guatemala.
- GenresAdoptionNonfictionMemoir
248 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 30, 2011
This is a good introduction to adoption from Guatemala and the necessary historical context. The author strives (and succeeds, for the most part) to remain neutral about his subject. The story of the girl's biological family and her relinquishment is heartbreaking, and the later clash of cultures speaks volumes about the gulf between the rich and the poor. However, I think that the book's title is somewhat misleading. Although the story centers around Ellie's/Berenice's adoption, the primary focus is on the women who have raised her. And, although the story of Antonia, the birth mother, is presented compassionately, in the end this is the adoptive mother's story. She is the one who decides to search for Ellie's birth family, she who makes first contact, and it is through her interaction with the author that we get the most detailed insights. Many of these insights are naive and even imperialist, as the author points out.
The problem for me is that we hear very little of Ellie's/Berenice's own voice. We can only infer what she is feeling, through her evasive, teenage stock phrases, and finally, through her rash adolescent decision that is at the climax of the book. The girl is a minor, therefore protected and, effectively, silenced by that fact. This is not the fault of the author, but it is a common problem with discussions of the effects of adoption. Almost always the adoptees who are consulted about their adjustment and contentment in their adoptive families are minors, still living in their parents' households, still growing into their identities. The author cites Betty Jean Lifton on the feelings of obligation that often cloud adopted children's feelings about their families, and this feeling can be so ingrained that it comes out as fierce attachment and denial of difference. When a child knows s/he is adopted, and was, therefore abandoned or relinquished or orphaned, that child often feels vulnerable and, therefore, obligated to demonstrate gratitude through loyalty to one's adoptive family. But when adoptees grow into adults and into their identities as individuals apart from their (adoptive) families, they may have to deal with feelings of anger towards the people and the system that changed their lives forever. This is when we can get a more mature and nuanced view of the effects of adoption on adoptees. And these adult adoptees are the people who need to have their stories told, both to set the record straight and to help other, younger adoptees deal with their often complicated feelings. (See, for instance, the PBS film Discovering Dominga, about a grown Guatemalan adoptee and her search for her roots). I wonder if the Guatemalan adoptees who were caught up in the flurry of adoptions in the mid-2000s will one day organize to demand answers and justice for themselves and their families, like many Korean adoptees are doing today.
Wheeler's book is enlightening about the forces at play in the Guatemalan adoption world and the conflicting feelings of the adults involved. But I think that this girl's story--and that of her brothers who were left behind to deal with their sister's disappearance--is yet to be told.
The problem for me is that we hear very little of Ellie's/Berenice's own voice. We can only infer what she is feeling, through her evasive, teenage stock phrases, and finally, through her rash adolescent decision that is at the climax of the book. The girl is a minor, therefore protected and, effectively, silenced by that fact. This is not the fault of the author, but it is a common problem with discussions of the effects of adoption. Almost always the adoptees who are consulted about their adjustment and contentment in their adoptive families are minors, still living in their parents' households, still growing into their identities. The author cites Betty Jean Lifton on the feelings of obligation that often cloud adopted children's feelings about their families, and this feeling can be so ingrained that it comes out as fierce attachment and denial of difference. When a child knows s/he is adopted, and was, therefore abandoned or relinquished or orphaned, that child often feels vulnerable and, therefore, obligated to demonstrate gratitude through loyalty to one's adoptive family. But when adoptees grow into adults and into their identities as individuals apart from their (adoptive) families, they may have to deal with feelings of anger towards the people and the system that changed their lives forever. This is when we can get a more mature and nuanced view of the effects of adoption on adoptees. And these adult adoptees are the people who need to have their stories told, both to set the record straight and to help other, younger adoptees deal with their often complicated feelings. (See, for instance, the PBS film Discovering Dominga, about a grown Guatemalan adoptee and her search for her roots). I wonder if the Guatemalan adoptees who were caught up in the flurry of adoptions in the mid-2000s will one day organize to demand answers and justice for themselves and their families, like many Korean adoptees are doing today.
Wheeler's book is enlightening about the forces at play in the Guatemalan adoption world and the conflicting feelings of the adults involved. But I think that this girl's story--and that of her brothers who were left behind to deal with their sister's disappearance--is yet to be told.
October 16, 2015
Very interesting story - the larger topic is Guatemala and adoption, as shown in a specific case, presented in the book. The author states he was just looking to present the story of adoption from Guatemala, as they were quite common in the U.S. until about 7 years ago, when laws changed. Didn't agree with every conclusion he made as he is wanting to satisfy everyone - the U.S. and Guatemalan birth family, but I have to think the child comes first, irregardless of what the adults in the situation feel. Personally, I have to feel that international adoption is a better option than life in an orphanage or in crushing poverty. Easy for me to say - I am not looking to adopt or was adopted or are giving my girls up for adoption, but an interesting case and one that if you look around you, you may see as well.
January 28, 2012
Between Light and Shadow is a poignant journey through Guatemala's landscape, international adoption and the effect adoption has had on its people. The focus of the story is a beautiful 14 year old girl named Ellie who was adopted by a family from Michigan when she was seven.
Wheeler is a journalist who follows 14 year old Ellie and her family as they make the decision to reunite with Ellie's birth mother and her siblings in Guatemala. Ellie was given up by her mother, Antonia, when she was seven years old and she has vivid memories of love and loss. The last time she saw her brothers, they were chasing after the car she was riding in, Ellie turned to wave goodbye, tears steaming down her cheeks, not knowing if she would ever see them again.
Please visit my book blog at http://www.booksnob-booksnob.blogspot...
Wheeler is a journalist who follows 14 year old Ellie and her family as they make the decision to reunite with Ellie's birth mother and her siblings in Guatemala. Ellie was given up by her mother, Antonia, when she was seven years old and she has vivid memories of love and loss. The last time she saw her brothers, they were chasing after the car she was riding in, Ellie turned to wave goodbye, tears steaming down her cheeks, not knowing if she would ever see them again.
Please visit my book blog at http://www.booksnob-booksnob.blogspot...
August 10, 2011
This was a very fast read. It hit home with me on many different levels: I have a child whom I adopted from guatemala, I was adopted and recently reunited with my birthmother who recently passed away and I also work in the field of international adoptions. It was very emotional to read because I've experienced many of the same things described. I thought it was very well done. Considering the recent developments in Guatemala, the book had even more impact.
February 21, 2012
As the mother of a daughter adopted from Guatemala this was a fascinating and difficult to read story (true) about the country, the adoption industry, and the complicated relationships between adopted and biological mothers and their children. I don't think I was ready to read it until now but am glad I did. Thanks to Danette for the recommendation.
March 16, 2012
This was an interesting read on a topic I did not know much about. It was a quick read and I enjoyed the addition of photographs the author contributed of the girl's journey to meet her Guatemalan family. Definitely a thought-provoking read and the book broadened my view of the complicated issues around international adoption.
August 4, 2014
Interesting book weaving the history of adoption in Guatemala with the story of an adopted girl and the search for her birth mom. it does not provide a solution to the issue of foreign adoption in Guatemala, but looks so , it form different angles. Great read!
April 11, 2021
3.5 stars, nice story, well researched and told, ultimately though fails to make the jump to larger issues - it is one family's particular story.
Well apparently not that memorable, I read it and reread it without even remembering.
Well apparently not that memorable, I read it and reread it without even remembering.
December 20, 2013
This brought up a lot of perspectives about adoption that I hadn't thought about before and an aspect of Guatemalan culture I didn't know about. It was a quick and interesting read.
January 21, 2014
not sure how I felt about this one.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews