Gift Children

This tender memoir about the trials and triumphs that follow an interracial adoption, written by the white father of two adopted black daughters, has much to teach a society wracked with racial tension. In 1970, Bates and his wife Gloria, a Eugene, Ore., couple with two sons, adopted Lynn, a four-year-old black girl, and, two years later, Liska, another black girl. While most members of their extended family came to love the girls, Bates does not flinch from revealing the racism displayed by certain relatives, neighbors, schoolmates and other individuals of both races in their city. Bates ( The Pulitzer Prize ), a former editor for the Seattle Times , writes with directness and candor about the difficulties faced by all members of the family. Their struggles demonstrate that in a family love may overcome racism, but that color remains a dividing issue in our society. Author tour. (May)