Reviving Ophelia

Chapter 5 opens with an anecdote about a 14-year-old adopted girl, Franchesca, whose story serves as “an example of how complicated family life could be in the 1990s” (113). Originally born into a Lakota Sioux tribe, she was adopted as an infant by a white family. Like many stories before, her pre-pubescent years were relatively normal. However, in junior high her grades and behavior slid, and Franchesca’s parents worried they had not done enough to acknowledge her heritage as a Native American. Franchesca reveals in therapy that she feels like she is not a part of her own family and longs to know her biological parents and learn more about her cultural roots. This inspires her and her family to learn and experience Native American culture, which improves her relationship with them as well as her outlook on life. Franchesca becomes an advocate for Native American rights at her school. She begins to accept herself as a member of two unique and equally important worlds—that of her biological heritage, and that of her adopted family. Pipher explains the state of families in the 1990s, asserting that their makeup was diverse, sometimes chaotic, and often lacking in community support.