Identical Strangers.

Schein, Elyse and Paula Bernstein. Identical Strangers.
Random House /Knopf/Anchor/Three Rivers, 2007. $25.95 270p 978-1-4000-6496-0

This is the chronicle of two women and their mutual discovery that they were twins who were separated when they were adopted by two different families. This double autobiography also examines the nature vs. nurture theory and is sprinkled with scientific information about twins.
This is the chronicle of two women and their mutual discovery that they were twins who were separated when they were adopted by two different families. They bond when they are in their late thirties and team up to find out their biological family history. They learn that the adoption agency that handled the adoptions was involved in an unethical study about twins and that is the reason they were separated. Both Elyse and Paula take turns telling their own story and reflect on how discovering they had a twin has impacted their lives. This double autobiography also examines the nature vs. nurture theory and is sprinkled with scientific information about twins. Color photographs of the two women and their families as they grow up and as adults are included in the middle of the book. The reader will by swept up in the mystery of their search for their mother and the secrets that are kept in the locked their adoption records. This title will be a very good selection for high school libraries where there is interest in the topic of adoption and/or the study of twins. TW