We Adopted You, Benjamin Koo

This is a welcome and needed picture book introduction to the concept of interracial adoption. Benjamin Koo, nine, narrates his own story: his birth mother left him at an orphanage in Korea when he was only a few days old; and, in America, his adoptive parents were longing to have a child and were just waiting for one to become available. In a childlike yet carefully organized way the author has Benjamin lay out all the details of adoption that children, adopted or not, want to know. Benjamin also confides his worries and wonderings: Why did his birth mother leave him, and what does being in a family really mean? Finally, Benjamin offers wise counsel: ``You might have been born somewhere else or look different from your parents, but that has noth ing to do with love.'' Ages 7-11. (Apr.)