Today, LitNuts is shining a spotlight on the work of Julie Ryan McGue, an award-winning author who writes about finding out who you are, where you belong, and making sense of it all.
“An inspirational story of perseverance and resiliency...about the discoveries that searching for the truth reveals—how it sets you free and offers the gift of love.” ~Linda Joy Myers, founder of the National Association of Memoir Writers and author of Don’t Call Me Mother
Twice a Daughter: A Search for Identity, Family, and Belonging
Genre: Memoir, Creative Nonfiction, Adoption, Parenting, Personal Transformation4.5 stars, 1000+ ratings
From: $12.99
Julie is adopted. She is also a twin. Because their adoption was closed, she and her sister lack both a health history and their adoption papers—which becomes an issue for Julie when, at forty-eight years old, she finds herself facing several serious health issues.
To launch the probe into her closed adoption, Julie first needs the support of her sister. The twins talk things over, and make a pact: Julie will approach their adoptive parents for the adoption paperwork and investigate search options, and the sisters will split the costs involved in locating their birth relatives. But their adoptive parents aren’t happy that their daughters want to locate their birth parents—and that is only the first of many obstacles Julie will come up against as she digs into her background.
Julie’s search for her birth relatives spans eight years and involves a search agency, a private investigator, a confidential intermediary, a judge, an adoption agency, a social worker, and a genealogist. By journey’s end, what began as a simple desire for a family medical history has evolved into a complicated quest—one that unearths secrets, lies, and family members that are literally right next door.
Praise for Twice a Daughter
"An engaging, endearing chronicle of a woman’s quest to find her origins." ~Kirkus Reviews
"A compelling, poignant memoir about the search for truth and belonging." ~Readers' Favorite
Awards:
- National Indie Excellence Awards Finalist in Parenting & Family
- International Book Awards Winner in Parenting & Family
- International Book Awards Finalist in Best New Nonfiction, Nonfiction: Narrative, and Women’s Issues / Women’s Studies
- Independent Press Awards Distinguished Favorite in Parenting & Family
- CIBA Nellie Bly Book Awards Finalist
- NYC Big Book Awards Winner in Personal Growth
- NYC Big Book Awards Distinguished Favorite in Parenting & Family
- Living Now Awards Gold Winner in Memoir—Female
Belonging Matters: Conversations on Adoption, Family, and Kinship
Genre: Nonfiction, Family & Personal Growth, Parent & Adult Child Relationships, Adoption4.9 stars, 25 ratings
From: $0.99
Belonging Matters supports the adoption community while creating a conversation with those not directly touched by adoption. The collection explores the pursuit of identity and the boundaries of family and kinship. It challenges the reader to embrace all of who we come to be, and to discern with whom and where we belong. Because belonging defines the human experience, and it is what nourishes our spirit, fuels us with purpose, and compels us to soar beyond the limitations of our lived experience.
Praise for Belonging Matters
"Rich with compassion and wisdom." ~Midwest Book Review
"A narrative where the pursuit of identity intersects with human connection." ~American Writing Awards Book Reviews
Awards:
- Literary Titan Book Award Winner
- Finalist in the Wishing Shelf Book Awards
- Firebird Book Award Winner
- Finalist in the Annual National Indie Excellence Awards for Book Cover Design and in the Personal Growth category
- Finalist in the International Book Awards in Parenting & Family category
- Nonfiction Winner, Honorable Mention in New York Book Festival
Twice the Family: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Sisterhood
Genre: Memoir, Creative Nonfiction, Adoption, Grief & BereavementNew release coming February 4, 2025
From: $12.99
What is it like to grow up as an adoptee and be raised with your identical twin?
In this coming-of-age memoir, set in Chicago’s western suburbs during the 1960s to 1980s, adopted twin sisters Julie and Jenny become the oldest daughters in a big family made up of a mixture of adopted and biological children. The twins’ sisterly bond is tight as the two strive for individuality, identity, and belonging. But Julie’s parents’ continual addition of adopted and biological children to the family leads to a number of painful experiences: they encounter infertility, infant mortality, a child with special needs, and then, when Julie is sixteen, a sudden family tragedy.
Faced with these challenges, Julie questions everything—who she is, how she fits in, the circumstances of her adoption, where she belongs, her faith and idea of family. As their family values, parental relationships, and sibling bonds are tested, Julie realizes her adoptive family is held together by love, faith, support, and her parents’ commitment to each other and family. But the life her parents have constructed is not one that Julie wants for herself—and as she grows older, she realizes how her parents’ goals and dreams differ from her own, and how the experiences that have formed her have provided a road map for the person and mother she wants to be.
Join author Julie McGue on this journey of identity and individuality, searching for answers through tragedy and adversity.
About the Author
Julie Ryan McGue is an award-winning American writer. Her weekly blogs focus on identity, family, and life's quirky moments. If she's not at her computer writing, she's out exploring with her camera, or on the tennis court. She is the mother of four adult children, a grandmother, and splits her time between NW Indiana and Sarasota. Learn more at JulieMcGueAuthor.com, sign up for her newsletter (see the "Don't Miss a Blog Post" form on her website), and be sure to also follow her online:
