Far From The Tree Final

Seth Pierce 1
Seth Pierce
Ms. Cramer
College Comp Period 7
December 4th, 2020
Lost Yet Profound
“Far From The Tree” a novel by Robin Benway, tells how teenagers deal with broken families
and different lifestyles. It is about three biological siblings who were adopted at birth, and how
they found themselves together later in life. Each sibling had their own traits about them. Grace
wanted to keep her issues to herself and act private. Joaquin, her older brother was more reserved
and silent. Maya, her sister acted like she couldn’t care less about anything.
The novel starts out with a 16-year-old named Grace who became pregnant and all alone. Her
boyfriend and his family wanted nothing to do with her or her child. Grace’s adoptive parents
weren’t that happy about the pregnancy either. Grace knew she would not be able to raise a child
on her own, so she found a nice couple that wanted to adopt her child. The couple were: Daniel,
a web designer and Catalina, a writer.
Once Grace had her baby, she felt empty and decided to try and find her biological mother, since
she herself had been adopted as a child. She got in touch with her mom’s sister and found out the
details of her adoption, or as she felt, abandonment. Her mother had also become pregnant at a
young age and had been disowned by her parents for the shame they felt she had brought home
to them. Grace was also told that she had two other biological siblings, a sister and a brother.
They too had been adopted at birth. Her sister, Maya was younger than her and her brother,
Joaquin was older. Her sister Maya had been adopted by a well to do family, living in a sort of
mansion, and her brother was in the foster care system until he was adopted at age 17.
Seth Pierce 2
All three of the siblings felt as if they had been abandoned until they learned the circumstances
of their mom’s decisions. They each had opinions of their upbringings, whether they were happy
or sad, but all three learned of the struggles and consequences of their own decisions.
Grace learned how hard it was to give up her child and reconnecting with her siblings made her
understand the connection of family and the bond of blood relatives. Her connection to her
siblings showed her just how many demons each of them had inside of them regarding their
lives. They all wanted answers as to why they had been abandoned and separated from one
another and looks deep inside for their own piece of mind.
Grace did indeed, find another boyfriend who would accept her for who she was, and for
whatever decisions she had made so far in her life. His name was Raphael, but she called him
Rafe. He was good to her, understanding and funny.
When Grace encountered her biological siblings, she learned about their families and how they
were raised. Her sister, Maya, had been adopted by a family of red heads, which made her want
to learn more about her real parents. Her brother, Joaquin, just seemed to be bitter about the
whole thing, maybe because he wasn’t adopted until later in his life and didn’t really get to
experience a real family.
When the three went in search of their biological mother, they didn’t tell their adoptive parents
what they were doing. Maybe, because they didn’t want any hard feelings about wondering
where they had come from and why. Although the three siblings connected, a tragedy kept them
from ever knowing their biological mother. She had died in a car crash. Maya had found an
envelope in her adoptive parents safe that had the address of their real mother on it, that gave her
and brother and sister a lead as to where to find their mother. Their real mothers name was
Seth Pierce 3
Melissa. The three did have contact with their mother's sister, Jessica, who was very kind to the
siblings.
Once Grace got over the initial shock of her mother being dead, she started thinking long and
hard about the little girl, she called Peach, that she had given up. After the struggles and
loneliness, she knew that she wanted to be a part of her child's life. After the painful search and
not finding her mother, she reached out to her baby's adoptive parents. She felt that someday her
own child would go out in search for her and knew in her mind that she wouldn’t feel complete
until Peach was part of her life.
Grace reached out to Daniel and Catalina about being part of Peach’s life and was welcomed in
with open arms. They met up in a park and instantly hugged each other. Grace could see and hear
Peach. As she got closer to her, she noticed That she had Maya’s eyes, Joaquin’s jaw and nose,
and her grandmother Melissa’s dark brown curly hair.
This novel gives you different views of how your upbringing shapes you as an adult. It shows
how these individuals struggle to overcome their feelings of abandonment by their biological
mother and how betrayed they felt. All three siblings had a better understanding of their own
mothers struggles and learned to forgive her. It has it’s funny and compassionate parts and gives
details as to how each individuals decision affected the next one. It truly teaches teenagers that
they need to hear and understand that every human life has meaning. All people, young or old,
need to know how important bonds matter in life. An understanding of whatever decisions you
make in life will certainly lead to consequences, hopefully good, and not bad ones.

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Seth Pierce 1

a web designer and Catalina, a writer.

Rafe. He was good to her, understanding and funny.

experience a real family.

until Peach was part of her life.

and her grandmother Melissa’s dark brown curly hair.

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