This is a wonderful compilation for those of us looking for a fresher "what to Expecting..." American Baby offers us fresh take almost as if the baby-to-be has found its voice. the illustrations are a culmination of highlights as well as instructional aids. I highly recommend it as a first choice for new mothers.

Downloaded this title for my work as a marketer for Penguin Random House, will not be posting my review publicly.

When naive sixteen-year-old Margaret Earle becomes pregnant in 1961, her mother demanded that she move into a maternity home. She gives birth to a son, Stephen, without her parents or boyfriend there to support her. Although Margaret and Stephen's father plan to marry, she is manipulated into signing adoption papers by people who pretend to have her best interests at heart. Social workers go so far as to threaten her with jail time if she does not give up Stephen.

Orchestrating this cruelty was the Louise Wise an adoption agency that placed children with Jewish families in New York. (If you've seen the phenomenal documentary, Three Identical Strangers, this is the same agency that separated the triplets. )

This book is much more than just a recounting of the unscrupulous practices of the Louise Wise adoption agency. It also is a deep dive into the history of adoption in the United States.

Although Margaret eventually married Stephen's father and they have a large family, she never got over the shame and trauma of giving up her firstborn son. A perfect suburban life never filled the void in her heart. She longed to know what became of Stephen, but because of the secretive nature of adoptions at that time, it was nearly impossible to find out any information.

Thoroughly recommended. It is on par with my narrative nonfiction favorites The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lax, Unbroken, and Into Thin Air.

Deeply riveting - and very heartbreaking. I couldn't put it down! I will definitely be recommending this to everyone I know.

Post WWII would become known as the baby boom, when all returning war heroes wanted to cash in on the American dream. Unfortunately, for some families, babies weren't easy to come by and this began the adoption boom that would effect millions of people.
Told through multiple examples, but especially through the life of Margaret Earle and her son, David, the adoption process throughout America would become very lucrative for some and very scarring for the parents giving up their children under secret.
American Baby was at the very least, well researched book. But it also gives heart to thousands, if not millions of stories of birth mothers forced or coerced into giving up their children in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. It was sad and frustrating to read about something that happened so long ago and couldn't stop from happening.

I was very interested in the idea behind this story and I made it 40%ish of the way through and I got bored. I was interested in the story part. I know the history is important but for my taste I feel too much time was spent on the history. I wanted to know about Margaret and her journey, not America.

Glazer deftly weaves a personal narrative into tons of fascinating research. I was riveted by the horrors of ,maternity homes and closed adoptions in post-WWII America. I cannot wait to put this book on library shelves and into hands of curious patrons. One of the best books I’ve read all year.