Reviews
“Bones the Float, A Story of Adopting Cambodia is that rare book that despite its harrowing truths, is an effective and hopeful call to action. Kari Grady Grossman's personal story of international adoption and advocacy for Cambodia's children is well-written and researched and a nudge to your social conscience that will have you asking "what's my Cambodia?”—Angel Limb, Artsline Editor WCVE-FM 88.9 Public Radio, Richmond, Virginia
"More than an adoption story, this beautifully written book brings to light the external, internal, and spiritual struggles mothers of internationally adoptive children face in their new roles. In her desire to understand and make whole her son’s two countries, Kari integrates both cultures into her heart and their lives so successfully, she’s fallen in love with her son’s ‘other’ brothers and sisters in Cambodia. This led Kari to return to Cambodia many times to build a school and become ‘mama’ to over 450 children. Told with fierce honesty and an affecting voice, Bones that Float is a love story of mother for her child, and a testimony of how love can change the world."
—Loung Ung, author of First They Killed My Father and Lucky Child
Kari Grady Grossman’s Bones That Float is a literary gem that employs sumptuous prose in the telling of three intertwined stories of survival: of outlasting Pol Pot’s despotic dream of an agrarian society; of enduring the rank poverty that it engendered; and of exploiting the pervasive corruption that fuels the engine of Cambodian upward mobility. This book is not afraid to mine the moral ambiguities implicit in international adoption. At the same time, it remains a poignant account of one couple’s soul-changing odyssey toward parenthood and their needle-in-a-haystack search for their son’s birth mother. Bones That Float is a beautiful book, steeped in the richness of Cambodian culture and history. Read it even if you have no connection to the world of adoption.
—Cathryn Alpert, author of the novel, Rocket City
"Much more than a story of one child and one family, Bones that Float: A Story of Adopting Cambodia is a tapestry of Cambodian lives, past, present and future, that conveys context and encourages the reader to follow threads from that lead from the cozy sofa that is America, from the swinging baby basket of an orphanage, from the bed of nails that is Cambodia under the reign of terror of the Khmer Rouge, and from the back of a moto in present day Phnom Penh. The result is a process of unfolding understanding, and as one parent put it, peace.
It's in the mystical journey these questions inspire that Grady Grossman's writing weaves three stories. In one, Kari and her husband long for a child and eventually adopt Ratanak from Cambodia ; the couple travels, photographs and experiences the country, and lets its history begin to sink into them. After they return to the U.S. , they struggle to give their son the best of both U.S. and Cambodian cultures and to determine what their duty is towards their son's first country and family. In another, the reader follows Amanda/ Maly Prom, a Cambodian refugee and dear friend to the Grady Grossman family, as her family suffers and survives the violent rule of the Khmer Rouge, and eventually emigrates to rebuild a life in the western U.S. In a third, the reader follows Sovann, Kari's moto driver and eventual friend and employee, and glimpses what it might be like to make a life in this ravaged country with no possible escape. It's these three stories which add amazing depth to this memoir of adoption and go such a long way in helping the reader understand the hypnotic horror and hope Cambodia has to offer in an intimate and unforgettable way.
By founding the Grady Grossman School in the Chrauk Tiek village, by donating a generous percentage of the proceeds of her book and by remaining engaged with her son's birth country and culture, the author brings education, possibility, and hope to those facing dismal poverty, government corruption, and environmental destruction in her expanded world.
I offer Bones That Float high praise and believe this spellbinding story deserves a place on every bookshelf, as a book that makes its reader aware of the reach of love, as well as of the connections between all citizens of the world."
—Violeta Garcia-Mendoza, Rainbow Kids E Magazine
"BONES THAT FLOAT is a must read book. In Kari Grossman's case, adopting a child means adopting his country of birth. As we follow along with the adoption process, we learn about Cambodia - its beauty and its darker side, and we meet Cambodians who have emigrated from the "killing fields" to Wyoming. Perhaps that's the best thing about BONES THAT FLOAT - meeting our neighbors and learning their story. If we sometimes feel a little isolated from the world in this beautiful state, this book brings the world to us."
—Barbara Gose, Wyoming Humanities Council Book Discussion Leader
"This book is so much like my own story; it is a universal story of every human on this earth. Cambodia's story was, is, and will be yours, mine and everyone's story."
—Arn Chorn-Pond, musician, human rights activist, and star of the award winning PBS documentary film The Flute Player
"Much more than a story of one child and one family, Bones that Float: A Story of Adopting Cambodia is a tapestry of Cambodian lives, past, present and future, that conveys context and encourages the reader to follow threads from that lead from the cozy sofa that is America, from the swinging baby basket of an orphanage, from the bed of nails that is Cambodia under the reign of terror of the Khmer Rouge, and from the back of a moto in present day Phnom Penh. The result is a process of unfolding understanding, and as one parent put it, peace.
If you have international adoption in your life, you should have this book in your library, and it doesn't matter if your kids are from Cambodia or Guatemala or Ethiopia, it's the heart of the matter that counts, and "Bones that Float: A Story of Adopting Cambodia" has heart."
—Sandra Hanks Benoiton, AdoptionBlogs.com/International Adoption Blog
It's in the mystical journey these questions inspire that Grady Grossman's writing weaves three stories. In one, Kari and her husband long for a child and eventually adopt Ratanak from Cambodia ; the couple travels, photographs and experiences the country, and lets its history begin to sink into them. After they return to the U.S. , they struggle to give their son the best of both U.S. and Cambodian cultures and to determine what their duty is towards their son's first country and family. In another, the reader follows Amanda/ Maly Prom, a Cambodian refugee and dear friend to the Grady Grossman family, as her family suffers and survives the violent rule of the Khmer Rouge, and eventually emigrates to rebuild a life in the western U.S. In a third, the reader follows Sovann, Kari's moto driver and eventual friend and employee, and glimpses what it might be like to make a life in this ravaged country with no possible escape. It's these three stories which add amazing depth to this memoir of adoption and go such a long way in helping the reader understand the hypnotic horror and hope Cambodia has to offer in an intimate and unforgettable way.
By founding the Grady Grossman School in the Chrauk Tiek village, by donating a generous percentage of the proceeds of her book and by remaining engaged with her son's birth country and culture, the author brings education, possibility, and hope to those facing dismal poverty, government corruption, and environmental destruction in her expanded world.
I offer Bones That Float high praise and believe this spellbinding story deserves a place on every bookshelf, as a book that makes its reader aware of the reach of love, as well as of the connections between all citizens of the world."
—Violeta Garcia-Mendoza, Rainbow Kids E Magazine
"BONES THAT FLOAT is a must read book. In Kari Grossman's case, adopting a child means adopting his country of birth. As we follow along with the adoption process, we learn about Cambodia - its beauty and its darker side, and we meet Cambodians who have emigrated from the "killing fields" to Wyoming. Perhaps that's the best thing about BONES THAT FLOAT - meeting our neighbors and learning their story. If we sometimes feel a little isolated from the world in this beautiful state, this book brings the world to us."
—Barbara Gose, Wyoming Humanities Council Book Discussion Leader
"This book is so much like my own story; it is a universal story of every human on this earth. Cambodia's story was, is, and will be yours, mine and everyone's story."
—Arn Chorn-Pond, musician, human rights activist, and star of the award winning PBS documentary film The Flute Player
"Any adoptive parent who seeks to understand the mysterious strands of fate that bring us together will treasure Bones That Float."
—Jeanne Malmgren, co-author of Journey to Mindfulness and adoptive parent of three Cambodian daughters
"This is a book about everything. Cambodian history (good and bad), Cambodian adoption (good and bad) and living in a familial relationship with a Cambodian-American family...
Bones That Float is the first of its’ kind, and it is a treasure. Kari tells us the rarely pure and never simple truth."
—Laurie Fenton, Emily's Books, www.emilysbooks.com
"Growing up around Cambodians and having first hand experience with the people and culture, I was surprised to learn so much about Cambodia and its people from your book. I admire the strength and honesty written in your words."
—Tean Ly, Investment Banker, Cambodia Heritage Camp Counselor and World Traveler