The Girl I Am, Was, and Never Will Be

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