The Hummingbird Lion: Book One - Paperback

Born Black and Korean in Seoul, Jessie Elliott's early life was marked by rupture, survival, and reinvention. From stealing food at age five to enduring orphanages and a transracial adoption at twelve, she navigated identity, abuse, and belonging in a world that rarely made space for her truth. Book One of this trilogy traces Jessie's journey from age five to twenty-culminating in her decision to leave her adoptive family and stand on her own. Through trauma, adolescence, and the search for connection, she begins to reclaim her voice and shape her future. Books Two and Three (coming later this year) follow Jessie's path from young adulthood into her fifties, as she builds freedom with fierce determination. From marriages and motherhood to founding multimillion-dollar businesses and returning to school for psychology, Jessie confronts PTSD, ruptured attachment, and the frameworks that helped her understand-and help-others. Written with raw honesty and PhD-level insight, The Hummingbird Lion is a story of survival, identity, and the quiet strength it takes to rebuild a life. It speaks to adoptees, survivors, and anyone who's ever had to fight for their own becoming.