A review by blogginboutbooks
The Search for Us by Susan Azim Boyer

4.0

As a genealogist and an adoptive mother, I love books about DNA matching, reunited families, identity, adoption, etc. Although neither of the main characters in this book are adopted adopted (as Henry likes to say), both of them are being raised by people other than their biological parents. Both of their birth mothers are active in their lives, but they've never met their birth father. When they are matched through DNA, Samira and Henry go searching for their common parent. While their journey to find Mohammed Safavi, their bio dad, provides the action in the story, THE SEARCH FOR US is much more about the teens' individual searches for themselves. For Samira, it's not about her ethnicity (half Iranian, half white), it's about her inability to live an independent life because of her belief that she is solely responsible for her alcoholic brother and their "helpless" Gran. Henry's adoptive parents (his uncle and aunt) like to pretend he's not Persian at all. He also struggles to define his own wishes for his future since he doesn't like to disappoint his adoptive parents. Ever. The reader gets to know and care for both of these characters throughout this heartfelt novel.

While the ending of THE SEARCH FOR US seems a little too neat, I still enjoyed the book. The characters are warm and sympathetic, the story moves quickly, and Boyer's prose is engaging. It teaches some good lessons about communication, forgiveness, compassion, standing up for one's self, and the importance of family (flawed as they always are). This is a quick read, but an uplifting one, in spite of some heavy subject matter.