The Foreign Service Journal, November 2020

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 2020 65 structure,” and more modern techniques such as “quality-at- entry assessment” of project proposals and the author’s own “Smith grid” for teambuilding. Kenneth F. Smith is a former Senior Foreign Service officer with USAID. He also worked with the Defense Department and as a consultant to the World Bank, African Development Bank and the United Nations. A longtime member of the international Project Management Institute and IPMA-USA, he leads workshops in various aspects of project management, monitoring and evaluation. Joys and Sorrows of Adoption: An Inspirational Book About Love, Understanding, and Engagement Graciela Congote Keane, independently published, 2020, $8.99/paperback, e-book available, 126 pages. In Joys and Sorrows of Adoption , Graciela Congote Keane discusses the challenges of raising children born to other people, and the burdens adopted children must over- come to thrive in society after being separated from their birth mothers. Using anecdotes, vignettes and testimonials from adoptees, Keane shares parental approaches that help integrate adoptees into their new families and society. She draws from, among other sources, her own family’s 38 years of experience as an adopting family. Keane discusses some of the differences between raising a biological child and an adopted child, as well as the challenges of adoption for mobile families. Keane developed the book as a family project with her husband and two sons, all of whom contributed to it. Graciela Congote Keane, a professional artist and avid reader and gardener, earned a B.A. in developmental psychology from Indiana University and an M.A. in early childhood special education fromThe George Washington University. She is the wife of Ambassador (ret.) John F. Keane and accompanied her husband to nine countries during his 37-year career. Lying in State: Selected Lying Brian Aggeler, independently published, 2020, $25/paperback, 145 pages. If the State Department were ever to survey its personnel regarding their work-related reading, it’s a safe bet that their favorite page in State maga- zine would turn out to be FSO Brian Aggeler’s “Lying in State” cartoon. In addition, he’s done dozens of cartoons for the FSJ . For three decades, Aggeler has entertained his colleagues and helped them cope with the inherent absurdities of their profession. Now, for the first time, he has published a collection drawn from more than 30 years’ worth of “Lying in State.” It is truly remarkable how many of his cartoons are still fresh, decades after their original publication in State . As a bonus, you’ll get to see the only “Lying in State” submission that the magazine ever turned down. Aggeler’s description of that episode is even funnier than the cartoon itself. Brian Aggeler is currently deputy chief of mission at U.S. Embassy Paris, where he earlier served as minister counselor for political affairs. A career member of the U.S. Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister Counselor, he previously served as DCM in Skopje, among many other assignments. Before joining the Foreign Service, Aggeler was a Peace Corps volunteer in the Central African Republic. He is married to Senior Foreign Service Officer Angela Aggeler; their daughter, Madeleine, is a writer in New York City. n