Far from the Tree

The book that Kirkus Reviews called a “funny, moving, compulsively readable novel about what makes a family,” and winner of the National Book Award, is finally in paperback.

Being the middle child has its ups and downs.

But for Grace, an only child who was adopted at birth, discovering that she is a middle child is a different ride altogether. After putting her own baby up for adoption, she goes looking for her biological family, and finds a brother and sister that she never could have expected.

Maya, her loudmouthed younger bio sister, has a lot to say about their newfound family ties. Having grown up the snarky brunette in a house full of chipper redheads, she’s quick to search for traces of herself among these not-quite-strangers. And when her adopted family’s long-buried problems begin to explode to the surface, Maya can’t help but wonder where exactly it is that she belongs.

And Joaquin, their stoic older bio brother, has no interest in bonding over their shared biological mother. After seventeen years in the foster care system, he’s learned that there are no heroes, and secrets and fears are best kept close to the vest, where they can’t hurt anyone but him.

Publishers Weekly praises Robin Benway’s heartfelt Adam Silvera–meets–Katie Cotugno breakout hit that “delves into the souls of these characters as they wrestle to overcome feelings of inadequacy, abandonment, and betrayal, gradually coming to understand themselves and each other.”

Paperback