Y
-
-
5.0 • 1 Rating
-
-
- $10.99
Publisher Description
"My life begins at the Y ..." So begins the story of Shannon, a newborn baby dumped at the doors of the YMCA. Bounced between foster homes, Shannon defines life on her own terms even as she longs to uncover her roots. Where is she from? Who is her true family? Why would they abandon Shannon on the very day she was born? The answers lie in the heartbreaking tale of her mother, a girl herself and one with a desperate fate. Through Marjorie Celona's intimate observations and quirky wit, the two stories converge to shape a unique and lasting story of identity and family. This novel asks us to consider the "why" of our lives even as it reveals that the answer isn't always clear and it doesn't always matter. Written with rare beauty and power, Y marks the debut of an astonishing new talent.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Sixteen-year-old Shannon isn't sure if she's a drifter by choice or by necessity; her earliest years were characterized first by her abandonment on the doorstep of the YMCA on Vancouver Island and, as she grew, by a series of foster homes, some truly horrific, others merely neglectful. Even after she's taken in at the age of five by Miranda, a single mom who raises Shannon affectionately alongside her own child, Shannon still longs to belong. Unsettled and propelled by feelings of otherness, she investigates her origins, risking the new, stable connections she's made. Shannon's first-person narration which begins at the moment of her abandonment, intentionally challenging the artifice of narration alternates with chapters focusing on her birth mother, Yula, and on what led Yula to abandon her baby. Shannon's awkwardness and emotional vulnerability make her an easy character to care for, but her physical oddities and sexual experimentation read as transparent attempts at generating conflict. While Shannon's story might offer hope for anyone involved in a nontraditional family, Yula's story is more compelling.
