Book Description
The inspiring true story of a four-year-old Chinese orphan who convinces her adoptive American family to return to China to rescue the little boy she couldn’t forget
Adopted by an American family at age four, Jaclyn traveled to her new home with a great burden. Her new family had to leave behind a little boy who had been under her charge at the Chinese orphanage where Jaclyn fought the odds against abandonment, institutionalization, and hunger---not for herself, but on behalf of this even smaller child, whom she regarded as her responsibility.
Jaclyn’s saga spans oceans and cultures. The Waiting Child is an extraordinary story of human resilience in the face of profound loss and suffering---and a testament to the ability of a loving heart to prevail over great adversity. Jaclyn’s unshakable determination to bring to her new life the child she had cared for in the institution, the one she believed with all her heart was “her baby,” will change all assumptions made about the human spirit. In the end, this moving story affirms everything that is good and hopeful in life, when, after a two-year effort, the little boy is brought to this country as the adopted son of Jaclyn’s American aunt and uncle.
From the Back Cover
Advance Praise for The Waiting Child
“If this story doesn’t make your heart ache, you should see a cardiologist. Four-year-old Jaclyn’s extraordinary devotion and determination are a powerful lesson in the meaning of love.” ---Jill Smolowe, author of An Empty Lap: One Couple’s Journey to Parenthood
“The story in The Waiting Child is one of abandonment, heartbreak, longing, hope, and love. It is the reality underlying the lives of millions of older adoptees. This is a compelling and important book for any parent and anyone touched by international adoption. Heartbreaking, searingly painful, but ultimately healing and hopeful.” ---Cindy Gallaher, adoptive parent and founder and president of North Bay Adoptions
“A riveting tale of adoption that paints a picture of life in a Chinese orphanage and of older children in their new families. While this is Jaclyn’s story, it is also much more.” ---Lois Gilman, author of The Adoption Resource Book
About the Author
Cindy Champnella is very active in the adoption community and is a passionate advocate for and speaker on adoption issues. She and her family live in Farmington Hills, Michigan.
The Waiting Child: How the Faith and Love of One Orphan Saved the Life of Another FROM THE PUBLISHER
The Waiting Child is an extraordinary story of human resilience in the face of tremendous odds. Adopted by an American family at age four, Jaclyn goes to her new home with a great burden. Her new family had to leave behind a little boy who had been under her charge at the Chinese orphanage. Jaclyn inspires two families, several agencies, and two governments to cooperate to reunite her with "her baby." Everyone who reads this story will believe in the power of love to change the world.
FROM THE CRITICS
Children's Literature - Mary Quattlebaum
Heroes come in all shapes and sizes, Cindy Champnella tells us in The Waiting Child. And sometimes they are right in our own families. When Champnella adopted her daughter Jaclyn from China, she discovered a feisty four-year-old with a mission. In the orphanage, Jaclyn had cared for a tiny toddler named Xiao Mei Mei. She would not rest until "her baby" had a new mama, too. In this moving tribute to love and tenacity, Champnella paints a picture of tedious bureaucracy, overworked orphanage staff, and the kindness of those who helped bring Xiao Mei Mei home to America. Champnella's book is both informative and inspiring. Three cheers for Jaclynﾽand for her good-humored, good-hearted author-mom, too! 2003, St. Martin's Press,
Kirkus Reviews
Adoption activist Champnella describes how her four-year-old daughter persuaded her new family to help the little boy she left behind in China. The author is frank about the stresses and dilemmas she and husband Rick faced after they adopted Lou Jiao in 1999 and renamed her Jaclyn. Though sympathetic to the efforts scantily funded Chinese orphanages are making to take care of the thousands of abandoned children like Lou Jiao, she is also disturbed by some of their practices. While most employees are loving caregivers, such amenities as toilets, beds, and clothing are grossly inadequate, corporal punishment is common, and bullying goes unpunished. These conditions haunted Jaclynﾽs dreams during her first year in America and made her difficult to handle, especially around bedtime. Cindy and Rick already had six-year-old Kate, and three-year-old Chinese adoptee Christy, but from the moment she became their daughter, Jaclyn was obviously different. Energetic and high-spirited, with an excellent sense of humor, she also talked obsessively about her "baby," worrying that he was being bullied and not taken care of. As she learned more English, Jaclyn campaigned to get that baby, Xiao Mei Mei, adopted. She prayed each night and constantly badgered her mother. In late 1999, Champnella took Jaclyn to China, met Xiao Mei Mei, and was immediately smitten. She and Rick decided to adopt the tiny boy, even though their finances were stretched thin and she could barely juggle her job as a school administrator with her family responsibilities. A happy solution to their dilemma was provided when the authorﾽs sister Laura, another adoptive parent who had met Xiao Mei Mei on the same visit, declared that shewanted to adopt him. Champnella affectingly details how Jaclyn accepted this option for Xiao Mei Mei (newly christened Lee), finding joy in having him close and peace in no longer having to worry about his plight. Sensitively pitched, moving, and refreshingly unsentimental.
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