A Princess Found: An American Family, an African Chiefdom, and the Daughter Who Connected Them All

As a bi-racial actress, dancer, and teacher, Sara Culberson gradually comes to realize that she wants, and needs, to know her biological and cultural background. Her need isn't born of deprivation or secrecy. She loves the white family that adopted her as a baby and raised her in West Virginia. Her quest is about personal growth and the truths that make adults feel complete and comfortable in their own skin. This book is a wonderful journey of courage and discovery. Like all adopted children, Sarah built fantasies and illusions about her biological parents and her adoption. As an adult, she began to understand this and to want to replace myths with facts. Since her adoption was a closed, her parents don't have much information to offer. However, they openly answer Sarah's questions as best they can. To learn more, a search for her birth parents is Sarah's only option. Thought gradually evolves into action after a fellow church member tells Sarah that she knew her birth mother. The warm welcome she received from her birth mother's family, along with the love and support of her adoptive family, left Sarah hungry to know more and ready to take the risks, although the search wasn't always smooth. At one point, she met with the rejection she feared most and it caused her to back off from her search, but eventually, she faced her fear. She also received encouragement from unexpected places. One such person, a hairdresser from Nigeria, knew African culture and customs and assured Sarah that she'd be welcomed. As I read about her birth father, Joe Kposowa--his youth, his immense responsibilities, and the gigantic cultural differences--there's no doubt that he made the right choice when he signed the papers to relinquish his right to be Sarah's father. In fact, she may owe her life to that decision. His life story, which is interspersed with Sarah's in alternating chapters, is an incredible battle to survive and serve his people during eleven years of war in Sierra Leone. The colorful detail and depth of information about the war and culture put the reader alongside Joe on his frightening journey. You'll laugh and cry with Sarah, as you relive her experiences, emotions, struggles, and shock. From meeting a huge new family, being honored with the head of an animal on a tray, phone calls at 3 a.m. requesting money for a bicycle, and introducing her adoptive family to her biological families, this story is a roller coaster ride with all the jolts and jars of a trip down the Bumpe road in Sierra Leone. Fortunately, there are also happy endings. Sarah's story is an informative journey through history, as well as an enlightening glimpse into the lives of her families as they build a future together. This living history lesson shows the reader how events and decisions that seem far removed from real people can affect everyday life. This is a lesson most of us never internalize. The colorful descriptions and meticulous cross-cultural interpretations by the a

I've been following Sarah and the progress her foundation is making in her home town of Bumpe, Sierra Leone now for several years. Her insightful journey shows that miracles can and do happen. She illustrates her identity issues as a bi-racial woman raised in a predominantly white town, and the inner struggles she faces coming to grips with her biological parents. After reading this book, I feel more aware of the struggles that Africa faces, and that one person can make a difference.

Crack open the cover of A Princess Found, and you will be swept up into the simultaneous biographies of a very normal young woman from white America, and of the African father she did not know, as he runs the gauntlet of daily survival in the Sierra Leone of the late 1990's, then the most dangerous place on earth. Though I knew the story before I began chapter one, I could not put this book down until I finished the first half. The narrow escapes, time after time, of Joseph Konia Kposowa and his family, from attacks by the notorious rebel soldiers of Liberia's then President Charles Taylor - the same RUF child-soldier death squads for which Taylor sits imprisoned at the Hague today - had me riveted. Those who have read Ismeal Beah's "A Long Way Gone" will find the terrain familiar, and no less terrifying. Poignant and repeatedly ironic is the parallel story of Sarah's middle class life as a mixed race, adopted girl in middle America. Candidly echoed and explored are the deep-seeded insecurities familiar to anyone close to those, or who were themselves, adopted as infants. Well described is the additional layer of mixed race geneology and sociological observations in America. Authentic, important similarities to President Obama's insights in "Dreams Of My Father" run deeper than the two books' cover designs. This story is very American. In the interest of full disclosure, I am happy to admit my friendship with Sarah Culberson. I first met Sarah in 2007 when she agreed to be Featured Guest at the Royal African Ball, an event organized by the Consular Chamber of Commerce to fund secular school development in sub-Saharan Africa. At the time, Sarah was probably struggling to get her bearings in her newfound lineage, and the multiple ramifications of uncovering it all. I found a snippet of her story while searching for someone else's, and managed to email her friend John. Aprehensive at first, Sarah agreed to come and speak at our event in Las Vegas. With the support of Von (see Acknowledgments), Sarah Culberson took the stage and told the story few will ever forget. Our participants were proud and substantial contributors to the Kposowa Foundation in 2007, helping to rebuild Bumpe High School. Sarah Culberson has risen to the occasion in a way that should make her fellow Americans proud. Faced with an overwhelming and emotional ride, she rose above the natural tendancy to become self absorbed, and channels all that attention and energy into a mighty force for good. She is part adopted-kid group therapist, part mixed-race interpreter, part ambassador. She is Princess Bumpenya. One of the stars I've given the book might be attributed to my friendship with Sarah. The book itself, her first, was put together at monumental speed. The form is fantastic. The dual stories of Sarah and Joseph, told in side-by-side format absolutly grab the reader, making for a great creshendo as the stories merge into one. A few minor proofing error

I love this book! It's well written and is a compelling story. Sarah tells of her life as a bi-racial girl growing up with a white family in a white town in West Virginia, and then tells the story of her biological father's struggles with the civil war in Sierra Leone at the same time. I couldn't put the book down, always wanted to find out what happened next! Sarah is a friend of mine - I met her in early '07 and found her to be an amazing young woman, with an interesting and compelling story. You will love her story, her enthusiasm, and her commitment to the Mende people of Sierra Leone, where she is considered a Princess. Great job Princess Sarah!