Multiracial Families

by Julianna Fields

Overview

What kind of challenges do multiracial families face? What issues do families deal with when the mother and father are of different races and the children are a mixture of the two? What about when the parents are of one race but have adopted children of another? Some of their challenges are the same as those facing families who are the same race, of course, but there are others that arise because of the families' multiracial nature. Do family members have trouble understanding what each other are going through because they do not share racial background? What about culture: should they celebrate their different races' holidays separately or blend them together to create new traditions? These are the kinds of questions the families in this book frequently face. What they have learned from their experiences can help us as well as we relate to people of different cultures.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781422298220
Publisher:	Mason Crest
Publication date:	02/03/2015
Series:	The Changing Face of Modern Families
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	64
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	6 - 18 Years

Table of Contents

Introduction 6

1 What is a Multiracial Family? 8

2 Multiracial Adoption 22

3 Intermarriage 37

4 Growing Up Between Two Races 50

Find Out More 60

Bibliography 62

Index 63

About the Author and the Consultant 64

Editorial Reviews

The fourteen volumes in this new series cover many different variations on the makeup of families today. Among today's fastest growing demographics are multiracial families and those families in which grandparents are raising children. The two books reviewed here take a closer look at these two variations. Each series book explores what makes up a particular type of family, and examines the challenges and strengths that different family compositions present. Other books delve into foster families, teen parents, blended families, single parents, adoptive families, and several other family types. There are certain features that remain consistent across the series. Terms to understand are defined in a sidebar along the first few pages of each chapter, and then the terms are highlighted in colored font as they occur within the text. The "headlines" feature in each book uses recent newspaper and magazine articles to offer the reader a chance to reflect on real life experiences related to each topic. Throughout each book, there are questions directed at the reader to encourage deeper consideration of their opinions and synthesis of the knowledge they have gained from the book. These slim volumes offer an adequate explanation and discussion in a visually pleasing format. This series would be very helpful for students writing reports or simply seeking information on the many definitions of the family unit that one encounters in today's society. Reviewer: Sherrie Williams

VOYA - Sherrie Williams

Gr 6 Up—The titles in this informative, nonjudgmental series examine many dimensions of the family unit. Including color photos, plentiful sidebars, and interesting headline stories, the accessible texts present real-life experiences and numerous supporting facts, definitions, graphs, charts, and statistics. Gay and Lesbian Parents addresses the controversy and intolerance faced by same-sex parents and how children in these families meet their unique situations. Teen Parents presents the reality of raising a child while continuing school and/or working, while other titles look at the challenges of raising foster children, living on the streets or in a shelter without a real home, and facing prejudices or mixing cultures in a multiracial home. Within each chapter, "What Do You Think?" questions encourage readers to consider the information presented. Multiracial Families concludes with a helpful word list to familiarize readers with appropriate words to use, and Teen Parents ends with an eye-opening list of costs involved with having a baby.—Susan Shaver, Hemingford Public Schools, NE

School Library Journal

Skin color and religion are "two factors people often connect with racial differences." There is no genetic basis to set one race apart from another. Multiracial families are increasing in the United States. Derek Jeter, Tiger Woods, and President Barack Obama are famous children of interracial marriages. Multiracial adoption is a growing trend. Married couples can make adjustments to different ethnic backgrounds. Children in families with ethnic or racial differences may feel that they are neither here nor there but can act as bridges between groups when they grow up. Terms such as assimilation, foster-care system, and disenfranchisement are defined in red sidebars. News articles with individual stories appear throughout the text in gray. Short explanations of Hinduism, Christianity, Jewish beliefs, and Hasidic Judaism appear on green inserts. A long section which defines positive or negative racial labels, appears in green at the end. Moss green sidebars add further information such as: "It is estimated that the mixed-race population in the U.S. will reach 21% by 2050." Questions to encourage thought appear at the end of each section. Colored photographs and graphs add to the text. Lists of books and websites for further information, a bibliography, and an index are included. This is one of "The Changing Face of Modern Families" series. Gallup supplied the data. An unusual number of errors in grammar does not diminish this book's informative and helpful message to look beyond outward appearances and labels. Reviewer: Carlee Hallman

Children's Literature - Carlee Hallman