Cover of Match Found: a girl's silhouette with a large curly afro against a sunset over the Charlotte skyline, with a potted rose and a wax-sealed envelope.

Match Found

Charlie has a family who loves her. She just doesn’t know where her curls came from. But somewhere out there are people with answers.

Read it — order on Amazon

Ages 9–12 · Grades 4–7 · 198 pages
Paperback and hardcover · Inspired by a true story

Ten-year-old Charlie has always known she was adopted. But when a DNA test turns up a close match two hours away, knowing where she comes from suddenly feels possible.

With a lot of questions, a little courage, and a houseplant she insists on bringing along, Charlie gets on a bus by herself and goes looking for answers. What she finds is a flower shop, a woman with her exact hair, and a whole family who have been there the entire time.

She also finds out that answers have a way of arriving with more questions attached — and that finding more family doesn’t mean losing the family she already has.

Match Found is a warm, funny, heartfelt middle-grade novel about identity, belonging, and the many ways a family can grow.

Nobody had to move over. The table just got longer.
From Match Found

Why I wrote this book

My sister gave me an at-home DNA test. I took it the way you take any gift you weren’t expecting, and then I waited.

What came back led me to the door of a relative I had never met, near Charlotte, North Carolina. I brought a houseplant. I stood on the step and introduced myself as their DNA match.

Charlie is not me. But the wondering is mine, and so is the plant. I wrote this book for every child who has looked into the faces of the people who love them and still asked, quietly, who do I look like?

— Paulette Hill

For schools, libraries, and family services

  • Classroom and library visits Author visits and readings for grades 4 through 7, in person or virtual.
  • Conference sessions and agency trainings For child welfare, foster care, and adoption professionals.
  • Bulk and classroom orders Discounted copies for schools, agencies, and foster-parent libraries.
  • Free discussion guide A guide for classrooms, counselors, and families is in the works. Email me and I’ll send it as soon as it’s ready.
hello@paulettehill.com