Mother Number Zero

March 15, 2011
In a simply written tale realistically built on half-formed questions and incomplete answers, a young adoptee suddenly starts thinking about his birth mother. Fejzo—Fay—has always known he was given up for adoption in the Netherlands by a refugee from the war in Bosnia. The probing queries of a nosy new girl he meets in a local park lead him to wonder for the first time about who and where his "mother number zero" (not "number one," because that would make his current mother "number two," and that seems wrong to him) might be, and to ask his loving adoptive parents for more information. Rather than lay out this line of enquiry's potentially devastating effects on Fay's psyche and family life, Hof lets readers do their own figuring. She provides hints through the way Fay's questioning upsets his parents, draws him repeatedly into worried "Are you sure you want to know?" exchanges and sends his older sister Ping (also adopted, but as an abandoned baby) into fits of rage and tears. Ultimately Fay does win indirect contact with his biological mother and comes away with a picture and a promise that, maybe, in a few years, there might be more. By the end he's wise enough to be willing to wait. Readers able to look between the lines will find plenty to ponder here. (Fiction. 10-13)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

July 1, 2011
Also translated by Johanna W. Prins. Well-adjusted adopted child Fejzo decides to search for his birth mother (whom he calls "Mother Number Zero"). His hugely understanding parents are nervously supportive, but his sister (also adopted) is resentful. Once the search becomes official, Fejzo begins to have his own doubts. This quiet, thoughtful, and nuanced story is an original and touching addition to the literature of adoption.

(Copyright 2011 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2011
"All children come out of a belly and nobody can remember that. What's the difference -- one belly or another?" So Fejzo expresses the party line of the well-adjusted adopted child. But this view becomes more complicated when his new friend Maud persuades him to search for his birth mother (whom he calls "Mother Number Zero"), a woman who escaped the war in Bosnia and gave birth in the Netherlands, home of Fejzo and his parents. The hugely understanding parents are nervously supportive of Fejzo's request, but his older sister, also adopted, is resentful. Once the search becomes official and fantasy starts to bump up against reality, Fejzo begins to have his own doubts, doubts that color his friendship with Maud and with his other friends. In the end, the authorities locate the birth mother, but she is not ready to meet her son, a decision that actually comes as a relief to the boy. This quiet, thoughtful, and nuanced story is an original and touching addition to the literature of adoption. sarah ellis

(Copyright 2011 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)