Y: A Novel Audiobook

" Not sure what to think, t was all over the place and didn't engage me, when it takes me this long to read a book it is not a good thing "

" definitely reads like a Colum McCann novel (in a good way)...was really impressed throughout most of the book. brought the pain and then some. alternating mother/daughter chapters and perspectives kept me interested. "

" 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 Shannon and her family are reunited with her bio mom was most interesting to me for her foster mother's assessment of Shannon's characteristics, her strengths and weaknesses. It's the kind of stuff most 17 year olds would take offense at, but Shannon just accepts it, actually with pleasure, realizing that Miranda had actually been paying so much attention to her. The other thing I enjoyed very much was the description of Vancouver Island, and Shannon's little field trip to the seedier areas of the city of Vancouver. "

" The opening of this novel states: "My life begins at the Y." The Y stands for YMCA and that's where she was found on an early morning wrapped in a dirty gray sweatshirt with a Swiss Arny knife tucked betwen her feet. By a stroke of luck, a man happened to be passing by and saw the woman leave the baby. The baby is bounced around to various foster homes before being permanently settled with Miranda who has a free-spirited daughter of her own. Viewpoints shift back and forth betwenn the mother and the daughter and the hardships they endure. After being given four different names, Miranda finally gives her the name she takes as her own, Shannon. Shannon is obsessed with the reason her mother left her on the day she was born and spends her thoughts and time on locating her. "

" This is a dark story that follows a girls life in foster care after she is left at the entrance to the YMCA on the morning she is born. It is tragic and very dark and I kept asking myself why I was reading it, but couldn't seem to put it down. I'm sure it is one that I will keep thinking about. Does it deserve a higher rating then? It is a debut novel by this author and I felt she definitely has a way of drawing you in and could possibly have a bright future. "

" A really good book. I had a hard time relating to Shannon. I just couldn't imagine making the decisions she did but overall it was a good but heartbreaking story. "

" A poignant story of an abandoned baby girl and the struggle to claim her identity, sometimes in the most unimaginable ways. "

" Think of this as 3.5 stars. Heartbreaking story of a girl named Shannon, abandoned at birth and shunted from one foster situation to another. She finally ends up in a permanent home that gives her the stability she craves without really giving her any love or sense of belonging. "

" A sad story. So hard to think a mother would do something so unthinkable as you start the story, but as you get into the tale you see the different sides and what the mother was thinking. Unfortunately things like this story happen often. "

" "We get what we are given,nothing more, nothing less." "

" I really enjoyed this book. I also love reading fiction books that mention real landmarks and locations I know. (The various streets and stores, from Vancouver and Victoria that were mentioned) "

" Y is a moving sometimes difficult novel to read about the "why's" of two lives....the mother who abandoned her daughter on the steps of the YMCA and that daughter.... "

" So far so good - I will post my review shortly. "