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Y

3.67 of 5 stars 3.67 · rating details · 1,086 ratings · 275 reviews

“My life begins at the Y…” so starts Shannon’s story, a newborn baby dumped at the doors of the local YMCA. Bounced between foster homes, Shannon longs to uncover her roots. Where is she from? Who is her mother? And why would she abandon Shannon on the day she was born?

The answers lie in the heartbreaking tale of her mother’s family, and their flawed and desperate fate. T...more

Hardcover, 350 pages

Published August 1st 2012 by Hamish Hamilton Canada ( A H C )

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2012 Giller Prize Longlist

6th out of 13 books — 28 voters

T is for Title

55th out of 69 books — 35 voters

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Jul 23, 2012 Mackenzie Thornton rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: loved

I received this book through Goodreads First Reads.

I don't think I have ever been so sad to see a book end. It caught me by surprise and I must have stared at the last page for 5 minutes before I finally closed the book. It was like saying goodbye to a friend that you don't want to lose. I grew so attached to the main character that I almost cried.

One of my favourite things about this book is the way it was written. The narrative is beautiful and 150% suits how you imagine Shannon would think if...more

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Jan 19, 2013 MaryAnn Koopmann rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

And the Y is where the story begins as well - the YMCA in a town on Vancouver Island. The Y is where Shannon's mother Yula leaves her when she is a day old, wrapped in a dirty sweatshirt with a Swiss Army knife as her legacy.

Shannon grows up being tossed to one foster home to another, neglected, abused and never knowing where she will be next. The book is very heartfelt and hard to read at times thinking a baby grew up into a system that really failed her in ever way.

It is a story that will mak...more

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Apr 27, 2013 Terri Jacobson rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: cincinnati-author, fiction

This book is the story of Eula, an unwed teenage mother, and Shannon, the child she abandons at birth. The stories of these two women are wound together chapter by chapter. Eula's life is shown as she approaches the birth of her second child, and Shannon's life in foster care until she is adopted is portrayed as well. There are scenes of child neglect and abuse that are stark and disturbing. The main characters are hard to like and feel empathy for. Though the writing was pretty good, reading th...more

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Mar 16, 2013 Deborah Jestin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I loved how the author gave both sides of the story! The sad tale-gave readers an insight to how a mother could do what she did. I loved how Marjorie wove the past and present!

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Mar 07, 2013 Dianne rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

An infant girl is left at the doors of a YMCA by her mother shortly after her birth. The author moves back and forth between what happens to the girl as she grows up in assorted foster homes and what led the mother to her act of abandonment. The author's writing style is interesting, the best analogy I can come up with is "verbal impressionist painting." Rich with many snippets of detail and odd observations, Celona weaves her tapestry of a tale back and forth in time, until at the end you see t...more

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May 29, 2013 Jenny rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Y is the story of Shannon, abandoned as a baby at a YMCA, and passed through a number of foster homes before arriving with Miranda and Lydia-Rose. But Shannon is strange and restless, and as a teenager she decides to search for her real parents. This story's uniqueness comes not from the plot, but from the manner of telling: Shannon narrates in the first person, but tells her parents' story as well as her own (first person almost-omniscient?). Celona effectively puts the reader inside Shannon's...more

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May 05, 2013 Nicole rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: teen, young-adult-fiction, realistic-fiction

I don't read as much realistic fiction, which is funny because I'm usually glad when I do. So I think that accounts for why it took me so long to get into this book - I was still wondering why the heck I was continuing to read it at the half-way point. But I'm glad I finished it out.

The character's life is hard. Hard to read, it's so full of sorrow. Not in an over-the-top way, but a very real and devastating way. Even after half-way I wasn't getting much in terms of growth/analysis/resolution....more

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Apr 14, 2013 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

‟Hier könnte ich zur Welt kommen“ ist der Debütroman von Marjorie Celona und ein gelungenes Werk über die Suche nach der eigenen Identität.

Inhalt: Kurz nach ihrer Geburt wird Shannon in ein graues Sweatshirt gewickelt in den frühen Morgenstunden ausgesetzt. Nach Stationen in verschiedenen Pflegefamilien, mit guten und mit schlechten Erinnerungen, findet sie bei Miranda und ihrer Tochter Lydia-Rose ein Zuhause. Obwohl sich alle größte Mühe geben, fühlt Shannon sich oft ausgeschlossen und sehnt si...more ‟Hier könnte ich zur Welt kommen“ ist der Debütroman von Marjorie Celona und ein gelungenes Werk über die Suche nach der eigenen Identität.

Inhalt: Kurz nach ihrer Geburt wird Shannon in ein graues Sweatshirt gewickelt in den frühen Morgenstunden ausgesetzt. Nach Stationen in verschiedenen Pflegefamilien, mit guten und mit schlechten Erinnerungen, findet sie bei Miranda und ihrer Tochter Lydia-Rose ein Zuhause. Obwohl sich alle größte Mühe geben, fühlt Shannon sich oft ausgeschlossen und sehnt sich nach Antworten. Von wem hat sie ihr Aussehen? Wo kommt sie her? Warum wurde sie ausgesetzt? Als Teenager macht Shannon sich endgültig auf die Suche nach ihrer Identität...

‟Mein Leben beginnt am Y.“, mit diesem Satz leitet Shannon ihre Geschichte ein, die dieser bewegende Debütroman sehr eindringlich erzählt. Im Deutschen unter dem fast poetischen Titel ‟Hier könnte ich zur Welt kommen“ erschienen, heißt er im kanadischen Original schlicht ‟Y“. Es ist das erste, von dem Shannon zu berichten hat, das ‟Y“ des YMCAs vor dessen Türen sie in den frühen Morgenstunden von ihrer Mutter Yula ausgesetzt wird, und zieht sich außerdem als Frage, ‟warum?“ (‟why?“), durch den gesamten Roman. Auf der Suche nach der Erklärungen beschäftigt sich dieser Roman mit den essentiellen Fragen nach der eigenen Herkunft und Identität. Welche Bedeutung haben sie?

Obwohl Shannon sich nach einigen anderen Pflegestationen letztendlich bei Miranda und ihrer Tochter in guten Händen befindet, die ihr ein fürsorgliches Heim bieten, treiben das Mädchen immer die Fragen nach ihrer Abstammung um, und so ist es nur eine Frage der Zeit, bis sie sich auf die Suche macht.
Der Roman lebt dabei zum Einen von den starken Charakteren und ihren oft nur subtil vermittelten Schicksalen. Hinter der Fassade schlummert bei fast jedem eine Geschichte, die nach und nach erzählt werden möchte – manchmal zeigen sich Abgründe, auch in Shannons Leben, die man so nicht vermutet hätte und die trotz, oder gerade wegen, der sprachlichen Distanziertheit des Romans sehr nahe gehen.

Erzählt wird die Geschichte zwar durchgehend von Shannon in der Ich-Perspektive, aber es scheint oft, als wäre sie gar nicht direkt involviert, sondern würde über der gesamten Handlung schweben. So berichtet die Erzählerin Shannon beispielsweise auch recht ruhig, fast abgeklärt, von ihrer eigenen Kindheit, beginnend mit dem Moment ihrer Aussetzung, den ersten Pflegefamilien, an die sich die Protagonistin Shannon gar nicht erinnert, und sogar die Vorgeschichte ihres Lebens, die Geschichte ihrer Mutter Yula und ihres Vaters Harrison, erzählt Shannon aus der Ich-Perspektive, als wäre sie dabei gewesen. So erfährt der Leser bereits parallel zu Shannons Aufwachsen, was zu ihrer Aussetzung geführt hat. Die Geschichte ihrer jungen Mutter geht besonders am Ende unter die Haut.

Diese ungewöhnliche Perspektive wird abgerundet durch einen sehr auf kleine, liebevolle Details fokussierten Stil. ‟Hier könnte ich zur Welt kommen“ ist kein Roman der großen Gesten, stattdessen entsteht die eindringliche Atmosphäre durch diese kleinen Beobachtungen am Rande. Der Geruch der Pflegemutter oder der Eiswürfel, den sie in die Suppe tut, um sie für ihre Kinder abzukühlen. Das Buch wirkt dadurch oft ruhig, ist aber umso berührender und besticht mit seinem einfühlsamen Schreibstil.

Fazit: Ein wunderschöner Roman über die Suche nach der eigenen Identität, der durch eine ungewöhnliche Perspektive, einen schönen Schreibstil und eine eindringliche Atmosphäre tief berührt. 5 Sterne. (less)

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Mar 26, 2013 Muccamukk rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Slow going at first, as the author kept piling on terrible things to happen: She's abandoned at birth, AND she's bounced around foster homes, AND she's disabled, AND she's sexually abused, AND she's bullied at school. Plus her mom's story was also horrifying. By the time I was about half way though and she'd run off to Vancouver and gotten into all kinds of trouble I was going :/ at the book, and wondering if I should give up before she became a drug addicted prostitute in the downtown east side...more

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Mar 14, 2013 Beth Browne rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

“My life begins at the Y,” is the first sentence of this brilliant story of a foundling who struggles to make her way in a world not always so friendly or kind. Not only did I love the travails and triumphs of this character, but I was also captivated by the writing. I can wholeheartedly give this book a solid five-star rating because it just has so much going for it. It’s a quirky story, with some very odd characters, some likable, some not, and a plot that just won’t let go.

The author flawless...more

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Jan 25, 2013 Laurie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

I found this to be a quiet book, not a lot of high drama, even when the events could have been told that way, like when her foster father beat her. The book itself takes on the emotional style of the child; mostly quiet and watchful, waiting to see whether the developing circumstances turn out to be good or bad. When she allows herself a moment of breaking out of that passivity, it turns out to be unpleasant enough to send her back to her default mode. The part of the final section in which Shan...more

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Jan 14, 2013 Ashley rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Marjorie Celona’s Y:A Novel is simultaneously jostling, sad, and hopeful.

From the book description (because it says it more succinctly than I can): ““Y. That perfect letter. The wishbone, fork in the road, empty wineglass. The question we ask over and over. Why? . . . My life begins at the Y.” So opens Marjorie Celona’s highly acclaimed and exquisitely rendered debut about a wise-beyond-her-years foster child abandoned as a newborn on the doorstep of the local YMCA. Swaddled in a dirty gray swea...more Marjorie Celona’s Y:A Novel is simultaneously jostling, sad, and hopeful.

From the book description (because it says it more succinctly than I can): ““Y. That perfect letter. The wishbone, fork in the road, empty wineglass. The question we ask over and over. Why? . . . My life begins at the Y.” So opens Marjorie Celona’s highly acclaimed and exquisitely rendered debut about a wise-beyond-her-years foster child abandoned as a newborn on the doorstep of the local YMCA. Swaddled in a dirty gray sweatshirt with nothing but a Swiss Army knife tucked between her feet, little Shannon is discovered by a man who catches only a glimpse of her troubled mother as she disappears from view. That morning, all three lives are forever changed.

Bounced between foster homes, Shannon endures abuse and neglect until she finally finds stability with Miranda, a kind but no-nonsense single mother with a free-spirited daughter of her own. Yet Shannon defines life on her own terms, refusing to settle down, and never stops longing to uncover her roots—especially the stubborn question of why her mother would abandon her on the day she was born.”

Shannon tells both her story, and the story of her parents and her birth. The alternation between Shannon’s current life and the time leading up to her birth works well, and I wasn’t sure it would when I first started reading the book. Shannon is definitely precocious, and it is a little disjointing to have a sometimes very adult story told by a child so wise beyond her years.

I started the book with a little trepidation- whatever it was I read that made me order the book led me to think I would find it heartbreaking and sad. Parts of it were indeed heartbreaking, particularly the story of little Eugene. I don’t think, however, it vilifies the foster care system the way the preview of the book that I read made it sound like it would. It seems like the system itself did a reasonably good job for Shannon within the parameters they have. It does show a need for continued reform, better vetting of foster parents, and more support for children in the system.

Here’s the thing. Through much of the book, I was ambivalent about Shannon. I felt sorry for her in many respects, but I also got exasperated with her sometimes. That being said, I believe Shannon’s actions are largely, though not completely, justified by the turmoil she feels from knowing she was abandoned and struggling to find a sense of belonging and permanence. By the end of the book, though, I felt satisfied. I felt like Shannon would be OK, that she would go on to a reasonably good and stable life. Given her start, that may be enough to hope for.

For a debut novel, I think Celona did a wonderful job. She gave us flawed characters in a desperate situation. No real villains, but tragic people making bad decisions and living with the consequences. While at best a mutedly happy read, I do call Y: A Novel wholly satisfying.(less)

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Jan 10, 2013 Steven Langdon rated it 2 of 5 stars

The past year, 2012, has been a period of achievement and excellence for Canadian fiction, with particularly strong contributions from women authors such as Nancy Richler ("The Imposter Bride,") Alix Ohlin ("Inside") and Linda Spalding ("The Purchase.") There have also been positive comments in the media about the work of Marjorie Celona, a West Coast writer whose novel "Y" was published during the year.

For this reason, I read this novel with high expectations.

Its basic plot is compelling. A bab...more

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Dec 08, 2012 Allison rated it 4 of 5 stars

Y is a moving story told from the perspective of Shannon, a girl who was left by her mother outside of a YMCA at birth. I like how the book moves beyond clichés and really probes the question of why a mother would leave her child. We delve into her backstory to find out, and the reasons are compelling.

The first-person present tense narration was jarring at first: Shannon tells everything as it happens, including details of her mother's past, though Shannon would not really have been there to wit...more

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Sep 28, 2012 Sandy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Y by Marjorie Celona

Y is a book of contemporary fiction. Released in August 2012 Y follows a young woman’s plight in the foster care system from birth to 18years of age. The story is told from the heroine’s first person POV but in between we witness her bitter conception and life of her birth parents and what happens when teens, drugs, alcohol and screwed up adults find their way into the body and mind.

Shannon aka Lily aka Shandi aka Samantha aka Jo is the young child in question who was first...more Y by Marjorie Celona

Y is a book of contemporary fiction. Released in August 2012 Y follows a young woman’s plight in the foster care system from birth to 18years of age. The story is told from the heroine’s first person POV but in between we witness her bitter conception and life of her birth parents and what happens when teens, drugs, alcohol and screwed up adults find their way into the body and mind.

Shannon aka Lily aka Shandi aka Samantha aka Jo is the young child in question who was first found by a stranger with ‘foresight’ on the steps of the local YMCA on a small island off Vancouver Canada. Once in the foster care system Shannon begins her young life (following a home birth where her mother knows that if the authorities are involved everyone will end up behind bars). The decision to abandon the baby at the Y is fraught with pain and sorrow, but also one that must be done in order for the child to survive.

Most of the novel is told from Shannon’s POV, literally from birth to 18years of age. Her struggles in a system where foster parents are unable to cope, have lives they would otherwise like to lead or who are only in it for the money. Passed from family to family, renamed and renamed, Shannon will embark on a series of families or facilities that are over-whelmed and unaware of the needs of a child in crisis. When Shannon is finally placed with a family willing to help a child with needs, she must incur the wrath of a jealous foster sibling and school system that is unprepared. Here she will remain until the end of the story. But like many in the foster care system, Shannon is restless and will eventually embark on a series of adventures that will bring her face to face with a life on the streets versus a family, who in their own way, has always loved and supported the strange little girl.

On the flip side, the third party narration will follow Shannon’s birth mother and her family. This particular part of the storyline shows a side of life that is very familiar to many families-a loveless marriage, drinking, drugs, dementia, death and violence. We are witness to Shannon’s parent’s tumultuous relationship including the death of a sibling, an aging parent and the loss of freedom. When Shannon finally catches up with the people from her early life, she will quickly realize who her real family has been all along.

Y is a difficult read at times. The foster care system is obviously unprepared, understaffed and underpaid for the vast numbers of clients and children in need of love and care. Y is not a story of perpetual abuse, although there is some as it relates to Shannon and a former couple. Y is a story about one young woman’s struggles within the system and ‘whys’ or ‘Ys’ as she endeavors to find the truth about herself. Y is not a feel-good story, but a story that will make you think. How many children are lost within the system and how many children are forgotten?

Copy supplied by Goodreads Firstreads.
(less)

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Sep 04, 2012 Luanne Ollivier rated it 4 of 5 stars

Y is Marjorie Celona's newly released debut novel. I think you're going to be hearing lots more about this author and title.

"Y. That perfect letter. The wishbone, fork in the road, empty wineglass. The quetion we ask over and over. Why?"

And the Y is where the story begins as well - the YMCA in a town on Vancouver Island. The Y is where Shannon's mother Yula leaves her when she is a day old, wrapped in a dirty sweatshirt with a Swiss Army knife as her legacy.

As a baby Shannon is shifted through...more Y is Marjorie Celona's newly released debut novel. I think you're going to be hearing lots more about this author and title.

"Y. That perfect letter. The wishbone, fork in the road, empty wineglass. The quetion we ask over and over. Why?"

And the Y is where the story begins as well - the YMCA in a town on Vancouver Island. The Y is where Shannon's mother Yula leaves her when she is a day old, wrapped in a dirty sweatshirt with a Swiss Army knife as her legacy.

As a baby Shannon is shifted through various foster homes until she lands with Miranda and her daughter Lydia-Rose. It is with Miranda that she finally finds some stability and safety. But it is here that she also begins to act out, to question, to search, to need and to want to find her parents and answers.

"I want to know who my real family is, who I really belong to, why I look this way, why I feel this ay. I want to know these things more than anything in the world." "I don't need my mother to be a good person. I just want to know who she is."

Celona has chosen an unusual narrative style for her book - but it's one that absolutely works. Young Shannon recounts her life and that of her mother as an almost disinterested third party observer, then switches to current day. The story goes back and forth, past and present, between Shannon's story and that of her mother Yula. Each woman's tale is so addicting and absorbing that I could not find a place to stop. I had to keep reading, to discover the why of Yula's decision, to discover if Shannon finds her way, her place, the answers she needs and if it is enough.

Celona's prose flow easily and seamlessly, drawing the reader deeper and deeper into the story. Both Shannon and Yula's narratives are powerful and poignant. Although Yula's story is no less compelling, it was Shannon I wanted to hug and comfort. Their lives are not easy to read about, but impossible to turn away from.

I was thinking about Y long after I turned the last page. Did I like the ending? What if....? What is the right thing to do? Who can judge? What is love? And that's the mark of a good book - one that keeps you thinking about it after the last page is turned. Definitely recommended.(less)

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Jul 17, 2012 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads, favorites

I just received and read the book Y by Marjorie Celona. I received the book through a give away by Goodreads. I would like to thank you for the opportunity to read the early reader’s edition.

(A couple spoilers)

I started reading this book last night and have finished it within 24 hours. I was quickly drawn in to the characters in the book. I can shut my eyes and see each of them so clearly and I feel as if I know them. The description of places and things was perfect. I love to instantly “see” wh...more

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Mar 12, 2013 (Lonestarlibrarian) Keddy Ann Outlaw rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I like the way this story unfolds, despite some gritty goings-on that were hard to read about. I always fall for any plot involving an abandoned baby. This one is eventually named Shannon. Found at the Vancouver Island Y, Shannon is wrapped in an old sweatshirt bundled with a Swiss Army knife. Shannon tells us her story in first person, including, curiously enough, sometimes her mother's story though she has very little information exactly who her mother might be. So we have to guess that eventu...more

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Mar 09, 2013 Cheryl rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Cheryl by: Susan

Shelves: canadian, fiction, bc, victoria

A baby is abandoned at the Y. Why? Why do people choose the forks in the path that they do? People are so often incapable of recognising choices. They lack a perceptual awareness of their own abilities to influence their own course through their life. The novel follows the story of the abandoned baby and her childhood, and intersperses it with the story of her biological parents. The paths of the characters are littered with misery and bad choices. The bleakness is alleviated only a little by th...more

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Feb 18, 2013 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was just plain wonderful. It was a page turner of the subtle kind. The narration was beautiful. The chapters alternate between two periods of time. We have the story of Shannon, a girl who was abandoned at a Y by her mother a day old. She learn slowly all the events that happen up to that point through the eyes of Shannon and then we have the ongoing life of her as she goes from a few different foster families and finally getting a somewhat stable one with a single mother and her daugh...more

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Feb 27, 2013 Paul Lunger rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

With "Y: A Novel", Marjorie Celona starts off with a simple history on the importance of the letter "Y" & then delves into a story that is haunting. The story opens with an abandoned baby on the front steps of a YMCA. That little girl becomes eventually known as Shannon who floats through a couple of very early foster care situations & eventually settles into stability Miranda & her daughter Lydia-Rose. We watch Shannon grow up & go through all the difficulties that a foster chil...more

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Jan 30, 2013 Elizabeth rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Y is a book about a young woman's plight in the foster care system from birth to 18years of age. The story is told from the heroine's first person POV but in between we witness her bitter conception and life of her birth parents and what happens when teens, drugs, alcohol and screwed up adults find their way into the body and mind. She was discovered a the Y wrapped in a sweat shirt. The story follows her search for a family, any family, a place to feel like home.

Shannon lives on a small island...more

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Mar 21, 2013 Robert Blumenthal rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A novel of the ultimate abandonment, a few years of rough sailing, followed by a caring and supportive upbringing, and finally a search for reconnection propel this extremely well-written novel forward. With just a few brief moments of rambling through the bowels of city life (the homeless, drug addicts, pimps), this novel soars in its story of Shannon, left on the doorstep of the YWCA in what appears to be Victoria on Vancouver Island, her several year journey through the foster care system, en...more

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Feb 03, 2013 Blake rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Wow. Just, wow. This is the best book I've read in a year or two.

Set on an island off the coast of Vancouver in British CoIumbia, this is the story of a girl, Shannon, abandoned at a YMCA at birth, and the story of her mother, Yula, and the circumstances that led to the abandonment. Chapters alternate between the two stories, and in the end, they converge. That simplistic structure and the straightforward delivery of plot allow for plenty of spot-on observation of the details of the lives of Yu...more

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Jul 17, 2012 Karin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, novel, personal-growth

I received this book from Goodreads Giveaway yesterday evening.

When i began reading it, i noticed that within a list of places there was the Eaton's Centre. How odd, i thought, isn't that a store in Canada? I expect most books to take place somewhere in real or imaginary cities in the US. I was delighted to discover that yes, i was right, it IS set in Canada. Bonus deal for this Canadian!

The story is about a baby girl, left on the doorstep of the local Y on an island of the coast of British Co...more

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Sep 29, 2012 Julie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: canadian-lit

The story has a powerful beginning, and interchanges from Shannon growing up, to a haunting and emotional story of Yula, her birth mother and how Shannon ended up where she was. I found this book to be a beautiful and haunting read.

I loved how there were two different stories and it interchanged from chapter to chapter. It worked out wonderfully for this novel. I found that I was completely immersed in Yula's story and how she got to the point in the beginning of the book. The author did a wond...more

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Feb 11, 2013 Barb rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I loved the writing style of this story, about a baby left at the front door of the YMCA. I loved the preface: "Y. That perfect letter. The wishbone, fork i the road, empty wineglass. The question we ask over and over. Why? The Chromosome half of us don't have. Second to last in the alphabet; almost there. Y or N? Yes, of course....Little bird tracks in the sand". As "Margorie" (she is named something different by each foster family) is trying to figure her life out; there are flashbacks to the...more

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Aug 18, 2012 Jackie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: work-review-related-reading

"Y" is a book about the why's of two lives. Why did one woman abandon her newly born daughter at the door of a YMCA? Why was it so hard for that little girl to find a real home? Why do we sometimes embrace responsibility and sometimes run away from it? Why are people cruel to the helpless, the innocent? The characters in this book are flawed and stumbling--in other words, very human and very memorable. Weaving two stories continuously could have made for a complicated read, but instead it gave t...more

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Jan 11, 2013 Casee Marie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013, reviewed

For the first sixteen years of her life, Shannon never knew her parents. Left by her mother on the steps of a YMCA just hours after her birth, the young girl’s abandonment is witnessed by only one man. Her destiny remained bleak and uncertain as she was shuffled through foster homes, her name altered and her childhood a blur. Y is the captivating story of Shannon’s plight to come to terms with the hand she’s been dealt. It’s a remarkable narrative on life and the perpetual question of “why”, exa...more For the first sixteen years of her life, Shannon never knew her parents. Left by her mother on the steps of a YMCA just hours after her birth, the young girl’s abandonment is witnessed by only one man. Her destiny remained bleak and uncertain as she was shuffled through foster homes, her name altered and her childhood a blur. Y is the captivating story of Shannon’s plight to come to terms with the hand she’s been dealt. It’s a remarkable narrative on life and the perpetual question of “why”, examining what drives us to make life-altering decisions. The novel follows Shannon as she finally finds a permanent home with a strong-willed single mother, struggles with the weight of her little life, and eventually commits to the decision to find her parents. The biggest danger becomes whether her search will uncover things best left alone. Alternating between Shannon’s young life and the story of her mother, Yula, the novel delves into the bond between mothers and daughters, and the unforeseeable connections they share.

Marjorie Celona’s debut is a stunning work, hauntingly paced and meticulously crafted. There’s a self-certainty to her prose that leaves a profound mark on the reader, and her wonderful, sad, enchanting young heroine only amplifies the significance of the story. Shannon is remarkable in every way, the sort of character that will leave a lasting impression on the reader. At times bitterly sad, other times charmingly witty, Shannon’s narrative holds the reader in an unflinching, riveted curiosity. With wisdom and sarcasm well beyond her age, she examines her life as well as her mother’s, the events that led to her birth and the many heart-rending fragments afterward, all dogged by the same daunting question: why? From her relationship with her adoptive sister to an ill-advised attempt to run away, Shannon dissects her life decisions with extraordinary insight and honesty. She becomes a friend to the reader, somewhat distant but all heart, as her story is explored, intertwined with the fateful plight of her pregnant eighteen year-old mother, sixteen years in the past.

I was moved, quieted, and deeply fascinated by Y and Celona’s beautiful writing; this is a writer whose career I look forward to following. The boldness with which she conceived her story is utterly admirable, as is the fearlessness with which she handled several unhappy topics. Everything about Y manages a chilling but brilliant picture in the reader’s mind, and Celona softens all of the book’s supporting characters just enough for the astonishing mind of Shannon to come into its full glory at the novel’s center. The Canadian backdrop of both city and wilderness are depicted with both a subtle grace and impacting detail that illuminates every corner of the novel. Y is, as a result, an affecting story and a striking example of the art of literature at its finest.

(Review © Casee Marie, originally published on January 11, 2013 at LiteraryInklings.com. I received a copy of the book for the purpose of review.)(less)

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Oct 07, 2012 Katelyn rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

With Y: A Novel, Marjorie Celona has written an incredibly descriptive and unique novel. The story focuses on Shannon, a child stuck in the terribly inadequate system of foster care. The details of some families she was placed with can be hard to read; from the day Shannon was dropped off at the YMCA as a newborn, her life has been full of struggles. It is also frustrating to witness the way the foster care center automatically wants to dismiss her concerns. Shannon is desperate to find her moth...more

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About Marjorie Celona

Marjorie Celona received her MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where she was an Iowa Arts Fellow and recipient of the Ailene Barger Barnes Prize. Her stories have appeared in Best American Nonrequired Reading, Glimmer Train, and Harvard Review. Born and raised on Vancouver Island, she lives in Cincinnati.

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The Best American Non-Required Reading 2008

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Quotes from Y

“She was fierce, quick to anger, her temper terrifying and unpredictable, her words deeply damaging when she wanted them to be. Because she had almost no need for people, she had no trouble hurting them. It seemed to enlarge her, give her strength. Quinn told her she had "poison blood".” — 5 people liked it

“I understand her immediately. She is an instigator, a fire starter, an accelerant of a human being, throwing herself into the middle of a crowd and lighting it up. She is fucking lighter fluid.” — 4 people liked it

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