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Minneapolis author Shannon Gibney made a splash with her first novel, "

," drawn from her life as a transracial adoptee. It won the 2016 Minnesota Book Award for Young People's Literature.

She returns to writing about her own life in her just released memoir, “

.” But this a memoir unlike most. Gibney calls it speculative fiction. It explores both her life as it was — and as it might have been, had she not been adopted by a white family. 

It’s a unexpected and enterprising way to wrestle with life’s “what ifs.” Gibney and host Kerri Miller will talk about it on this Friday’s Big Books and Bold Ideas.

, when Gibney had just published her second book, "

.” It traces the oft-neglected history of free Blacks and former enslaved people who sailed back to Africa to colonize what is now known as Liberia.

To listen to the full conversation you can use the audio player above.

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Minneapolis author Shannon Gibney just published her memoir. But it’s probably unlike any memoir you’ve read before. She’ll tell MPR News host Kerri Miller about it on Friday’s episode of Big Books and Bold Ideas. Until then, enjoy this 2018 conversation between Miller and Gibney when her second book, “Dream Country,” had just come out. 

From the archives: Shannon Gibney on 'Dream Country'

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