This book investigates the evolving societal perceptions and representations of adoption and foster care in America from 1850 to 1929. Claudia Nelson, drawing on her expertise in American literature and history, analyzes a wide range of texts including children's orphan fiction, magazine articles, legal writings, and social work proceedings. The central argument posits that these portrayals reflect broader shifts in American attitudes towards critical social issues such as immigration, poverty, heredity, gender roles, and the definition of family. The study explores the interplay between specialist discourse on adoption and its broader public imagination.

The book is recognized for its ambitious scope, tracing the complex evolution of adoption and foster care narratives across a pivotal period in American social history. Scholars have noted its insightful examination of how literary and legal texts mirrored and shaped public understanding of family, child welfare, and societal anxieties. The analysis effectively connects the micro-level of individual adoption stories to macro-level shifts in social policy and cultural values. This work provides a comprehensive look at how the concept of the 'little stranger' transformed within the American imagination.