My publisher and I are both chagrined that my dedication and acknowledgments were somehow excluded from the first printing of Two Little Girls . They'll be included in subsequent printings. In the meantime, here they are.

Dedication

For my daughters

Acknowledgments

Michelle Tessler, my agent, made it possible for you to read this book. Many other agents said to me, “I couldn't put it down. I can't sell it. The shelf is too crowded.” Michelle said, “I couldn't put it down. I can sell this book,” and then she sold it – over and over and over again. Thank you, Michelle, from the bottom of my heart, for making me an author.

Leona Nevler, my editor, was the gentle and wry midwife of the right title for my book and an efficient and compassionate guide through the publication process. Leona died before Two Little Girls was published. I miss her voice on the phone, and wish I could thank her just one more time for loving and championing my book. Susan Allison, the editorial director of Berkley Books, has been a creative, warm, and steadfast friend of me and Two Little Girls . Her choice of Kate Seaver as my new editor was just one of many astute decisions Susan has made for my benefit.

Richard Pearlman and the staff of the Family Resource Center in Chicago – especially Jane Turner and Susan Braithwaite – held our hands on every step of our adoption journey. No one could ask for more from an agency than we got from FRC.

We owe our friends in Ukraine who helped us adopt Lana more than we can say; they consistently showed good humor, patience, and resourcefulness within a crushingly difficult context. They are, truly, heroes.

I wish everyone could be as loved as I am by my sister-in-law, Jane, who traveled with us to Ukraine, and by my sister, Candace, who has provided invaluable editing and parenting advice for years.

Everyone should have such great friends as Maureen Kelly, who is a wise woman and adoption advocate, my sounding board and protector, and a great mother to Lia; and as Franny Billingsley, my old friend, writer pal, and firm and steady encourager; and as Erin Sorenson, who is a perceptive reader, a thoughtful questioner, and my constant ally.

Elizabeth Bartholet, Jana Wolff, Jill Smolowe, and Susan Fisher were so remarkably kind as to read an unpublished stranger's manuscript and “blurb” it to help me land an agent and publisher; Noelle Oxenhandler, a generous acquaintance, did the same.

Many other friends – Barbara Beaton, Joanna Post, Dana Richardson, Pat Wells, Kristin Freshley, Helen Starman, Anne Gilbert, Janice Lieberman, Karen Goldbaum, Carolynn Hayman,– read the manuscript early on and provided lively feedback.

In case I never get another chance, I want to thank former University of Chicago faculty members Wayne Booth and Gerald Graff for providing exactly the inspiration and guidance I needed to finish my PhD.

Thank you to our children's wonderful grandparents, aunts, and uncles, who have supported us and embraced our girls with so much love.

Our children's birthparents gave Marc and me our lives' greatest gifts. We eternally love them and thank them for their courage.

And, of course, I honor Marc, my husband, who made adopting our children possible, who made getting my PhD possible, who made writing this book possible.