Felicia's Favorite Story

Overview

Felicia's Favorite Story is a 2002 Two Lives Publishing picture book by Leslea Newman, illustrated by Adriana Romo. Felicia asks Mama Linda and Mama Nessa to tell the story of her adoption from Guatemala, turning an origin story into a repeated bedtime exchange between a child and her two mothers. Newman's own page explains that she wrote the book for children adopted internationally into families like those of friends. The public trail is strong enough for a solid standalone record: Open Library and library records preserve identifiers, Publishers Weekly reviewed the book, Lambda finalist notices document award context, and Two Lives connects it to a small LGBTQ-family publishing network. In the collection, it links two-mother representation, adoption, international family formation, and Newman's wider body of work.^{[2][3][4][6][1]}

A Two-Mother Adoption-Origin Story

The book centers an origin story told inside the family. Felicia asks for her favorite story, and Mama Linda and Mama Nessa retell how she came to them from Guatemala. That frame gives adoption narrative a domestic rhythm: the story is not a secret revealed once, but a repeated account that helps a child understand belonging. For the collection, this matters because same-sex-parent representation and international adoption are not separate themes. They meet in the intimate language a family uses to explain itself to a child.^[2][1][3]

Bedtime Repetition And Child Agency

Publishers Weekly notes the back-and-forth bedtime structure, and that form is part of the book's interpretive value. Felicia is not passively receiving an adult explanation; she requests, interrupts, and participates in the telling. The repeated story gives her agency over how family history is remembered. This makes the title useful beside books where children decide how families appear in school or public settings. Here the setting is quieter, but the same issue remains: a child learns to name the family story as her own.^[4][2][1]

Two Lives Publishing Context

Two Lives gives the title a specific publishing network. The press's own materials present a list built around LGBTQ families, including alphabet, counting, and story books for children. Felicia's Favorite Story belongs to that small-press effort to give children books that mainstream publishers often did not supply in sufficient range. This context changes the item from a single adoption story into evidence of a broader publishing ecology: presses, authors, illustrators, and families building a usable shelf for young readers.^{[9][10][11][14][15]}

Leslea Newman Beyond Heather

Newman is best known in this collection for Heather Has Two Mommies, but Felicia's Favorite Story shows a different part of her children's-book work. It is less about first recognition of lesbian-parent families and more about adoption, repetition, and family memory. Newman’s creator record, award listings, and other collection titles make this item part of a long career rather than an isolated publication. That career context helps visitors see how one author returned to LGBTQ family life across age levels, formats, and family situations.^{[8][7][12][13]}

Timeline

1. 2000Text copyright contextNewman's page preserves text-copyright context before publication.^[2]
2. 2002PublicationTwo Lives published Felicia's Favorite Story in 2002.^[2][5]
3. 2003Lambda finalist reportingThe Advocate reported 2002 Lambda Literary Award finalists including the title.^[6]
4. 2003Publishers Weekly reviewPublishers Weekly reviewed the book in 2003.^[4]
5. 2006Library cataloging trailOpen Library records include LCCN and OCLC identifiers in the cataloging trail.^[3]
6. 2012Collection comparison contextThe title belongs with later scholarly and collection attention to two-mother and two-father picture books.^[9]
7. 2015Heather afterlife comparisonThe renewed public life of Heather Has Two Mommies helps frame Newman's broader family-book authorship.^[12]
8. 2026Collection synthesisThe item is now being treated as a strong adoption and Two Lives record in the collection.^[1]

Two Lives And Newman Trail

The title connects Newman's authorship, Two Lives Publishing, adoption narrative, and Lambda finalist reception.

Citation

Felicia's Favorite Story. Leslea Newman; illustrated by Adriana Romo. Two Lives Publishing, 2002. Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children's Book Special Collection, Mechanics' Institute. Collection ID: KB-095.

Sources

Cover image from Open Library.

1. Local collection catalog record for Felicia's Favorite Story · catalog
2. Leslea Newman page for Felicia's Favorite Story · creator
3. Open Library work record for Felicia's Favorite Story · library
4. Publishers Weekly review of Felicia's Favorite Story · review
5. Seattle Public Library record for Felicia's Favorite Story · library
6. Advocate report on Lambda Literary Award finalists · award
7. TeachingBooks Leslea Newman awards page · award
8. Encyclopedia.com profile of Leslea Newman · creator
9. Two Lives home and publisher history · publisher
10. Two Lives page for ABC: A Family Alphabet Book · publisher
11. Two Lives page for 123: A Family Counting Book · publisher
12. Open Library record for Heather Has Two Mommies · library
13. Penguin Random House record for Donovan's Big Day · publisher
14. Open Library record for ABC: A Family Alphabet Book · library
15. Open Library ISBN record for 123: A Family Counting Book · library
16. Open Library work record for The White Swan Express · library