From the award-winning author of Twice a Daughter comes the much-anticipated prequel.
In this coming-of-age memoir, set in Chicago’s western suburbs between the 1960s and ‘80s, adopted twins Julie and Jenny provide their parents with an instant family. Their sisterly bond holds tight as the two strive for identity, individuality, and belonging. But as Julie’s parents continue adding children to the family, some painful and tragic experiences test family values, parental relationships, and sibling bonds.
Faced with these hurdles, Julie questions everything—who she is, how she fits in, her adoption circumstances, her faith, and her idea of family. But the life her parents have constructed is not one she wants for herself—and as she matures, she recognizes how the experiences that formed her have provided her a road map for the person and mother she wants to be.
BIOGRAPHY Julie Ryan McGue is an American writer, a domestic adoptee, and an identical twin. In her books, essays, and blogs, she explores the topics of finding out who you are, where you belong, and making sense of it. Her award-winning memoir, Twice a Daughter: A Search for Identity, Family, and Belonging (She Writes Press), released in May 2021. Her work has appeared in multiple journals, anthologies, and online sites, such as Writer’s Digest, Story Circle Network Journal, Brevity Nonfiction Blog, Adoption.com, Adopting.com and Severance Magazine. Her collection of essays titled Belonging Matters: Conversations on Adoption, Family, and Kinship (Muse Literary) released in November 2023. Her third book, Twice the Family, another memoir and prequel to Twice a Daughter (She Writes Press), released in February 2025. Julie splits her time between northwest Indiana and Sarasota, Florida.