With All My Might
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4.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
Over a series of interviews set against the backdrop of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Gabriella shares with journalist Mark Grijsbach an honest and mesmerizing account of what it was like to be one of the first cross-cultural adoptions in the 1960s.
Young Gabriella’s struggles with intolerance, bullying, racism, and feeling like she did not belong followed her throughout most of the first part of her life but are narrated in such a brave and wise voice that readers will feel empowered as they watch her journey toward becoming the woman she is today.
Whether you are a father, a mother, a child, a blood relation, or adopted, you will be pulled into this story. From thought-provoking commentary on what adoptions are really like and advice for those wishing to adopt, to thoughts on the various contradictions in life, there are takeaways for us all. Primarily, Gabriella’s message underlines that “It is okay to just BE you.”
This book is a must-read for social activists, those considering adoption, and for anyone looking for a story that touches on the universal topics of belonging and family.
Now in its third edition, this acclaimed book With All My Might is a classic and rightfully deserves its place in our hearts.
Customer Reviews
WITH ALL MY MIGHT
Read this beautiful, simply written book. Like me, you will laugh and you will cry.
With unusual raw clarity, with sensitivity, with great courage, and without blaming or taking sides, Gabriella van Rij describes her difficult personal cross-cultural childhood journey into the powerful, radiant, secure, happy, and up-beat adult she has become.
Based on her personal experiences as an adoptee from Pakistan to a very white Europe, Ms van Rij touches upon many themes of global concern, including culture shock, color-based discrimination, feeling isolated, not belonging, rebellion, adaptation, being unchangeably different with no chance of acceptance, and the inability to live up to (often unstated) expectations of adults who act without taking the child's needs from its perspective into account.
Her autobiographical account is weaved into and contrasted by the remarkable interracial and intercultural harmony she experienced as a volunteer for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Gabriella chronicles mistreatment by European authorities with enormous power to help or to harm, and the extent to which fear destroys lives and relationships. At one point, they tried to take her only child from her, and even to deport her, starting a dramatic battle that she eventually won.
She also examines adoption from both the side of the well-meaning adopters and the effects of their impositions on the child.
This could be a depressing book, but it is actually uplifting. It will make you angry, but it will also warm your heart. It will make you think. And it will definitely enrich your life.
This is not a depressing book. It will make you cry, but it will also make you laugh. It will make you think. And it will definitely touch you and enrich your life.