Book Corner – January 2025

Somewhere Sisters: a Story of Adoption, Identity, and the Meaning of Family

by Erika Hayasaki
Ages: Adult

Vietnamese twins Loan and Ha were separated when they were babies.  Ha was raised by her aunt in a loving home in rural Vietnam.  Loan was adopted, renamed Isabella, and grew up in a loving home in a Chicago suburb.  Isabella’s American family weren’t told their daughter was a twin, and when they found out, Isabella’s mom started to search for Ha.  After many years, Isabella and Ha finally met and began to truly reunite.  

Somewhere Sisters is the story of Isabella, Ha, and their families, but it’s much more.  Their story is a framework for information about many aspects of adoption and twinship.  Readers will learn about twin research, the history of international and transracial adoption, how a child’s environment affects them, and much more.  Somewhere Sisters is touching, informative – and very hard to put down!

Listen to Here & Now‘s Deepa Fernandes speaks with journalist and author Erika Hayasaki. Hayasaki’s new book “Somewhere Sisters: A Story of Adoption, Identity, and the Meaning of Family,” tells the story of identical twins who were born in Vietnam. One was adopted by a well-to-do white American family, the other was raised by her maternal aunt. The two eventually met as teenagers.