"Grace wasn't one of those girls who was always fantasizing about homecoming," but it was still "surprising that she ended up spending homecoming night... in the maternity ward... giving birth to her daughter." Only 16, Grace's life is completely changed by giving birth to, then giving away, the baby she thinks of as Peach. Putting Peach up for adoption makes Grace want to meet her birth mother, who, according to her adoptive parents, cannot be found. It turns out, though, that Grace has a sister, and her parents know how to find her.
Maya, a year younger than Grace, was also adopted as a baby. Months after her adoption, Grace's new mother became pregnant with a biological child, making Grace the eldest of two, equally beloved but occasionally feeling like an outsider. Now Grace's parents are nearing divorce--her mother is an alcoholic and her father is never home. Grace and Maya meet and learn that they have an older brother.
No longer a newborn when he entered foster care and not white, Joaquin, now 17, unlike his little sisters, was never adopted. The couple he currently lives with is extremely supportive and loving, and desperate to adopt him, but Joaquin, the product of years of foster care and one failed adoption, is terrified of allowing those he loves to get close to him.
Robin Benway's (Also Known As) Far from the Tree is a deeply moving novel about families made and born. The trials the three teens face are always confronted directly and never diminished; their relationships, both new and old, are complicated and beautiful. This novel is a journey into the depths of familial relationships that rings true. --Siân Gaetano, children's and YA editor, Shelf Awareness