Skip to Main Content (Press Enter)
The Girl I Am, Was, and Never Will Be by Shannon Gibney
Add The Girl I Am, Was, and Never Will Be to bookshelf
Add to Bookshelf

Look Inside

The Girl I Am, Was, and Never Will Be

A Speculative Memoir of Transracial Adoption

A Speculative Memoir of Transracial Adoption

A Speculative Memoir of Transracial Adoption

A Speculative Memoir of Transracial Adoption

By Shannon Gibney

By Shannon Gibney

By Shannon Gibney

By Shannon Gibney

By Shannon Gibney

By Shannon Gibney

By Shannon Gibney
Read by Shannon Gibney

By Shannon Gibney
Read by Shannon Gibney

Best Seller
Paperback $11.99

Jan 09, 2024 | ISBN 9780593112014 | Young Adult

Hardcover $18.99

Jan 10, 2023 | ISBN 9780593111994 | Young Adult

Ebook $8.99

Jan 10, 2023 | ISBN 9780593112007 | Young Adult

Audiobook Download $23.00

Jan 10, 2023 | 311 Minutes | Young Adult

All Formats
+
    The Girl I Am, Was, and Never Will Be by Shannon Gibney
    Paperback $11.99
    Jan 09, 2024 | ISBN 9780593112014

    Buy from Other Retailers:

    See All Formats (3) +
    • $11.99

      Jan 09, 2024 | ISBN 9780593112014 | Young Adult

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    • $18.99

      Jan 10, 2023 | ISBN 9780593111994 | Young Adult

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    • Jan 10, 2023 | ISBN 9780593112007 | Young Adult

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    • Jan 10, 2023 | ISBN 9780593663417 | Young Adult

      311 Minutes

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    Buy the Audiobook Download:

    About The Girl I Am, Was, and Never Will Be

    A Michael L. Printz Award Honor Book

    Part memoir, part speculative fiction, this novel explores the often surreal experience of growing up as a mixed-Black transracial adoptee.

    Dream Country author Shannon Gibney returns with a new book woven from her true story of growing up as the adopted Black daughter of white parents and the fictional story of Erin Powers, the name Shannon was given at birth by the white woman who gave her up for adoption. 

    At its core, the novel is a tale of two girls on two different timelines occasionally bridged by a mysterious portal and their shared search for a complete picture of their origins. Gibney surrounds that story with reproductions of her own adoption documents, letters, family photographs, interviews, medical records, and brief essays on the surreal absurdities of the adoptee experience.

    The end result is a remarkable portrait of an American experience rarely depicted in any form.

    About The Girl I Am, Was, and Never Will Be

    A Michael L. Printz Award Honor Book

    Part memoir, part speculative fiction, this novel explores the often surreal experience of growing up as a mixed-Black transracial adoptee.

    Dream Country author Shannon Gibney returns with a new book woven from her true story of growing up as the adopted Black daughter of white parents and the fictional story of Erin Powers, the name Shannon was given at birth by the white woman who gave her up for adoption. 

    At its core, the novel is a tale of two girls on two different timelines occasionally bridged by a mysterious portal and their shared search for a complete picture of their origins. Gibney surrounds that story with reproductions of her own adoption documents, letters, family photographs, interviews, medical records, and brief essays on the surreal absurdities of the adoptee experience.

    The end result is a remarkable portrait of an American experience rarely depicted in any form.

    About The Girl I Am, Was, and Never Will Be

    A Michael L. Printz Award Honor Book

    Part memoir, part speculative fiction, this novel explores the often surreal experience of growing up as a mixed-Black transracial adoptee.

    Dream Country author Shannon Gibney returns with a new book woven from her true story of growing up as the adopted Black daughter of white parents and the fictional story of Erin Powers, the name Shannon was given at birth by the white woman who gave her up for adoption. 

    At its core, the novel is a tale of two girls on two different timelines occasionally bridged by a mysterious portal and their shared search for a complete picture of their origins. Gibney surrounds that story with reproductions of her own adoption documents, letters, family photographs, interviews, medical records, and brief essays on the surreal absurdities of the adoptee experience.

    The end result is a remarkable portrait of an American experience rarely depicted in any form.

    About The Girl I Am, Was, and Never Will Be

    Part memoir, part speculative fiction, The Girl I Am, Was, and Never Will Be explores the often surreal experience of growing up as a mixed-Black transracial adoptee.

    Dream Country author Shannon Gibney returns with The Girl I Am, Was, and Never Will Be, a book woven from her true story of growing up as a mixed-Black transracial adoptee and fictional story of Erin Powers, the name Shannon was given at birth, a child raised by a white, closeted lesbian. 

    At its core, the novel is a tale of two girls on two different timelines occasionally bridged by a mysterious portal and their shared search for a complete picture of their origins. Gibney surrounds that story with reproductions of her own adoption documents, letters, family photographs, interviews, medical records, and brief essays on the surreal absurdities of the adoptee experience.

    The end result is a remarkable portrait of an American experience rarely depicted in any form.


    * This audiobook includes a downloadable PDF of images, documents and resources from the book.

    Read An Excerpt

    Read An Excerpt

    Read An Excerpt

    Read An Excerpt

    Listen to a sample from The Girl I Am, Was, and Never Will Be

    Also by Shannon Gibney

    Dream Country
    See all books by Shannon Gibney

    Also by Shannon Gibney

    Dream Country
    See all books by Shannon Gibney

    Also by Shannon Gibney

    Dream Country
    See all books by Shannon Gibney

    Also by Shannon Gibney

    Dream Country
    See all books by Shannon Gibney

    About Shannon Gibney

    Shannon Gibney is an author and university professor. Her novel See No Color, drawn from her life as a transracial adoptee, was hailed by Kirkus as “an exceptionally accomplished debut” and by Publishers Weekly as “an unflinching look at the… More about Shannon Gibney

    About Shannon Gibney

    Shannon Gibney is an author and university professor. Her novel See No Color, drawn from her life as a transracial adoptee, was hailed by Kirkus as “an exceptionally accomplished debut” and by Publishers Weekly as “an unflinching look at the… More about Shannon Gibney

    About Shannon Gibney

    Shannon Gibney is an author and university professor. Her novel See No Color, drawn from her life as a transracial adoptee, was hailed by Kirkus as “an exceptionally accomplished debut” and by Publishers Weekly as “an unflinching look at the… More about Shannon Gibney

    About Shannon Gibney

    Shannon Gibney is an author and university professor. Her novel See No Color, drawn from her life as a transracial adoptee, was hailed by Kirkus as “an exceptionally accomplished debut” and by Publishers Weekly as “an unflinching look at the… More about Shannon Gibney

    Product Details

    Category: Teen & Young Adult Fiction | Teen & Young Adult Social Issues

    Paperback | $11.99
    Published by Dutton Books for Young Readers
    Jan 09, 2024 | 256 Pages | 5-1/2 x 8-1/4 | Young Adult | ISBN 9780593112014

    Category: Teen & Young Adult Fiction | Teen & Young Adult Social Issues

    Hardcover | $18.99
    Published by Dutton Books for Young Readers
    Jan 10, 2023 | 256 Pages | 5-1/2 x 8-1/4 | Young Adult | ISBN 9780593111994

    Category: Teen & Young Adult Fiction | Teen & Young Adult Social Issues

    Ebook | $8.99
    Published by Dutton Books for Young Readers
    Jan 10, 2023 | 256 Pages | Young Adult | ISBN 9780593112007

    Category: Teen & Young Adult Fiction | Teen & Young Adult Social Issues | Audiobooks

    Audiobook Download | $23.00
    Published by Listening Library
    Jan 10, 2023 | 311 Minutes | Young Adult | ISBN 9780593663417

    YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

    Praise

    A Booklist 2023 Editor’s Choice
    A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year

    ★ “An ambitiously authentic adoption story where fiction does the work of truth, and archives, correspondence, and health records provide the roots of fantasy.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

    ★ “A fantastical, transcendent memory collage that shirks convention in search of what is real and true about familial bonds.”—PW, starred review

    ★ “Readers will praise the raw honesty and insight in this lovingly crafted memoir.”—Booklist, starred review

    “An authentic journey for adoptees who are not allowed to feel sad but thrust into a stance of gratitude for a life they were given and for all readers who, after a loss, are reconstructing their identities.”—SLJ

    “This deeply felt and unusually creative book is recommended for readers aged fourteen to adult, and will be an especially important resource for people of all ages with a connection to transracial adoption. The final section of the book, a group text thread including the author and other writers with this background, resonates with the solace of shared experience.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune

    “Gibney captures such interior and intimate adoptee feelings. It’s so rare to see it evoked on the page. Breathtakingly beautiful.”—Kimberly McKee, PhD, author of Disrupting Kinship: Transnational Politics of Korean Adoption in the United States

    Awards

    Michael L. Printz Honor Book HONOR 2024

    Looking for More Great Reads?
    21 Books You’ve Been Meaning to Read
    Back to Top

    Visit other sites in the Penguin Random House Network

    Raise kids who love to read

    Brightly

    Raise kids who love to read

    Today's Top Books

    Today's Top Books

    Want to know what people are actually reading right now?

         An online magazine for today’s home cook

    TASTE

    An online magazine for today’s home cook