NEWS & EVENTS
Dreams of My Mothers has been included in a recently published wiki: Moving Books About Adoption & Foster Care.
April 7, 2019
Founded in 2011, Ezvid Wiki was the world's first video wiki, and is now among the top 3,000 websites in the United States. Our YouTube channel has over 425,000 subscribers, 250 million views since founding, and we have informed over $200 million in purchasing decisions to date.
May 7, 2015
My mother – the wonderful woman who adopted me despite already having four biological children of her own – was a bright, educated, and deeply thoughtful person. So she had been planning for my arrival from the orphanage in many ways. When I arrived from Korea as her new son, I was nearly 7 years old, and my mother knew that Koreans did not eat the same breakfast that Americans typically ate.
My Nickname: A Cautionary Tale About Racism
Author's article featured on huffingtonpost.com.
We have seen the devastation that racism can perpetrate when the ignorance and hate embedded within it are allowed to fester in silence at the margins of our society. But where does this sort of racism come from?
Los Angeles, CA. As we celebrate our nation’s birth on the 4th of July, I can’t help but reflect on how I came to my belief in what makes us truly American. It happened when I was eighteen in a foreign country, as the lone American in a sea of non-Americans, holding and hugging an old woman I did not really know.
Dreams of My Mothers featured on Hmong Times Newspaper
June 16., 2015
by Amy Doeun
Joel L.A. Peterson began his life with a different name in a much different place from rural Minnesota where he grew up. Peterson was born in Korea. He is biracial, a tangible result of an ongoing American presence in the country and a visible shame upon his mother. However she chose to raise Peterson until he was adopted at the age of 7 by a Swedish couple in Minnesota.
Being a Real Man: Lessons From My Dad An adopted son struggled to find his place
“Let us pray.” My dad’s bass voice rumbled as he bowed his head.
I was a 16-year-old who had been adopted at age 6 — a fact about me that would play a crucial role this day. Our house was Mom’s pride and joy. Anyone who walked into Ellen Lindquist’s home knew exactly what holiday season it was — all the major and minor holidays and everyone’s birthday. I think Dad loved our home all the more for the “Ellen Lindquist-ness” of it.
Half Korean.com features Authors's interview
June 23, 2015
Half Korean.com: An online community for mixed-race Koreans.
Dreams of My Mothers is the recently published debut novel by biracial Korean adoptee Joel Peterson.
Based on Joel’s own true story, Dreams of My Mothers tells the story of “a biracial, impoverished boy who, through the transcendent love of his mothers, rises above questions of identity, race, physical limitations, and prejudice to become a unique American success story.”
How My Dad Taught Me to Love My Mom: One Man’s Story
Author's article featured on tolovehonorandvacuum.com:
Can a dad straighten out a sullen, adopted teenager with a chip on his shoulder?
You betcha! I love this story that author Joel Peterson sent my way for Father’s Day, and I hope you enjoy it, too! It’s from his fictional biography Dreams of My Mothers.
Sunday, July 26at 4:00pm - 7:00pm
Join author of Dreams of My Mothers for fun, wine, food, literary discussion, and book signing! Perfect event to meet up with friends!
Please RSVP with how many are joining you (e.g. +2) due to food and wine considerations.
2015 HalfKorean.com Meet
Saturday, July 18, 2015, 2PM-4:30PM
Author of Dreams of My Mothers will be a guest speaker at HalfKorean.com's annual meet this Saturday!
Place: Hwa Sun Ji (화선지) Tea & Coffee
3960 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 100
Los Angeles, CA 90010
Author's Webinar: Do Adoptees Do Better or Worse in School?
June 8, 2015
Service of Children's Home Society and Lutheran Social Services of Minnesota:
As parents, we have the highest hopes for how we can impact and improve our children's lives. Because of this, many adoptive parents may worry about whether their children will succeed in school once they are home. In this webinar, Joel L.A. Peterson will speak to his research in education as well as provide anecdotes from his own experience as an adoptee. Throughout, he will cover many of the myths and challenges surrounding adoption and school to show that success in school is the norm, not the exception, for adoptees.
Author will feature as the keynote speaker at 7C Asian American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) Graduation Celebration
May 15, 2015, 6:30 to 8:30 pm
Our keynote speaker author and CGU PhD student, Joel L.A. Peterson, exemplifies this year’s theme of “Change, Resilience & Persistence”. Nominated for multiple awards, Peterson’s book, Dreams of My Mothers, is based on true events and experiences of a biracial, impoverished boy who, through the transcendent love of his mothers, rises above questions of identity, race, physical limitations, and prejudice.
Dreams of My Mothers was highlighted by The Giving Back Foundation
April 26, 2015
Jim founded Orphans International Worldwide (OIWW) fifteen years ago with the help of his mother. Then, inspired by his father's legacy, he created The James Jay Dudley Luce Foundation five years ago. Last week celebrated these two decades of service at the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations, honoring the second year of Luce Scholars, the fifth year of Luce Leaders, and the fifteenth year of Humanitarians. Dreams of My Mothers was awarded to each Luce Leader for improvement in social services practices.
First TV interview! The show is "Halo Halo with Kat Iniba " on LA 18 TV!
March 11, 2015
First TV interview which airs on March 11, 2015! The show is "Halo Halo with Kat Iniba " on LA 18 TV.
Broadcasting on channel 18, LA18 serves the nation’s second largest TV market and the largest Asian American market – the Los Angeles DMA. LA18 provides a unique variety of news, sports, drama, and entertainment programs.
LA18 reaches 5.6 million TV households in the Los Angeles DMA over-the-air, including nearly 3 million cable households and 2 million satellite households (DirecTV and DISH Network systems) in the LA DMA as a must-carry local station (Nielsen Media ’13 Universe Estimate). LA18’s affiliate stations include: KUAN-LP San Diego, KIKU Honolulu, KCNS San Francisco, WSAH New York, WTVG Philadelphia, KUBE Houston and WMFP Boston.
Jim Luce's Post on Facebook
February 17, 2015
"As the founder of Orphans International Worldwide and The J. Luce Foundation, I was so impressed with this book we are awarding it to our Luce Leaders at a Leadership Reception at the Sri Lankan Mission to the United Nations Feb. 26. We will also review shortly it in The Stewardship Report. Congrats to author Joel L. A. Peterson!"