When We Become Ours

"An emotion-filled collection." —Kirkus Reviews

A CCBC 2024 Choices for the Fiction for Young Adult category!

Two teens take the stage and find their voice . . .

A girl learns about her heritage and begins to find her community . . .

A sister is haunted by the ghosts of loved ones lost . . .

There is no universal adoption experience, and no two adoptees have the same story. This anthology for teens edited by Shannon Gibney and Nicole Chung contains a wide range of powerful, poignant, and evocative stories in a variety of genres.

These tales from fifteen bestselling, acclaimed, and emerging adoptee authors genuinely and authentically reflect the complexity, breadth, and depth of adoptee experiences.

This groundbreaking collection centers what it’s like growing up as an adoptee. These are stories by adoptees, for adoptees, reclaiming their own narratives. 

With stories by:

• Kelley Baker
• Nicole Chung
• Shannon Gibney
• Mark Oshiro
• MeMe Collier
• Susan Harness      
• Meredith Ireland
• Mariama J. Lockington
• Lisa Nopachai
• Stefany Valentine
• Matthew Salesses
• Lisa Wool-Rim Sjöblom
• Eric Smith
• Jenny Heijun Wills
• Sun Yung Shin
• Foreword by Rebecca Carroll
• Afterword by JaeRan Kim, MSW, PhD

Shannon Gibney is a writer, educator, activist, and the author of See No Color and Dream Country, young adult novels that won Minnesota Book Awards, as well the picture book Sam and the Incredible African and American Food Fight and the memoir/novel The Girl I Am, Was, and Never Will Be: A Speculative Memoir of Transracial Adoption. She coauthored the children's picture book Where We Come From. Gibney teaches writing in the English department at Minneapolis College. Visit her on Instagram @shannonelainegibney and Twitter @GibneyShannon. 

Nicole Chung is the author of the national bestseller All You Can Ever Know. Named a Best Book of the Year by NPR, the Washington Post, Time, and many other outlets, All You Can Ever Know was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, a semifinalist for the PEN Open Book Award, an Indies Choice Honor Book, and a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection. Chung's writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Atlantic, Time, GQ, Slate, and the Guardian. Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, she now lives in the Washington, DC, area.

Mariama J. Lockington is a transracial adoptee, author, and educator. She has been telling stories and making her own books since the second grade, when she wore shortalls and flower leggings every day to school. Mariama’s middle grade debut, For Black Girls Like Me, earned five starred reviews and was a Today Show Best Kids’ Book of 2019. Her sophomore middle grade book, In the Key of Us, is a Stonewall Honor Award book and was featured in the New York Times. Her debut young adult novel, Forever Is Now, came out in May 2023. Mariama holds a master’s in education from Lesley University and a master’s in fine arts in poetry from San Francisco State University. She calls many places home but currently lives in Kentucky with her wife, her little sausage dog, Henry, and an abundance of plants. You can find her on Twitter @marilock and on Instagram/TikTok @forblackgirlslikeme.

Meredith Ireland is a transracial adoptee attorney and writer born in Seoul. She is a Rollins College and University of Miami School of Law alumna. She writes young adult and children’s books. Her debut novel, The Jasmine Project, was a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection and a Best Book of 2021 according to Boston Public Library and received a starred review from ALA Booklist. Her follow-up, Everyone Hates Kelsie Miller, was named a best book of 2022 by both Forbes and Seventeen magazine. Her short story is featured in You Are Here, a middle grade anthology and the inaugural title of Allida/Clarion. Emma and the Love Spell, her debut middle grade fantasy, will be out in winter 2024. Meredith resides in New York with her two children and a county fair goldfish that will probably outlive them all.

Mark Oshiro is the award-winning author of the young adult books Anger Is a Gift (Schneider Family Book Award) and Each of Us a Desert as well as their middle grade debut, The Insiders. They are also the coauthor (with Rick Riordan) of the #1 New York Times bestselling novel The Sun and the Star. When not writing, they are trying to pet every dog in the world. Visit them online at markoshiro.com.