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The Leavers National Book Award Finalist A Novel Lisa Ko Books

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The Leavers National Book Award Finalist A Novel Lisa Ko Books

The Leavers by Lisa Ko is a Book of the Month pick this month, but I will be honest in stating I did not pick it as one of my selections for the month. My box already had my 3 choices, so when it came out, I picked it up on my own. I am glad I did as it is a book that had me thinking, it stuck with me, and it was just a great read even in the midst of the difficult topics.

The book opens with Deming Guo and his mother Polly. They are living in a tiny apartment in NYC with relatives and life is a struggle, but all seems well. Polly goes off to work one day and does not return. Deming is brought to child services where he is adopted by a NY suburban couple and is given the name Daniel.

Daniel isn't the perfect child, he struggles in school, he kind of coasts through life, and winds up with a gambling addiction and isolates himself from his friends.

Daniel is haunted by his memories of his previous life. He knows he is not Daniel, but Deming and he knows his mother is out there somewhere, so he begins his search for her and what happened that day.

The narrative shifts to Polly's story. It is a story of coming into NY as an undocumented pregnant woman who is dropped off alone in the world. She has always been independent, but now she is in NY and must work low wage jobs to make ends meet. She has to make tough choices in her life to protect her son. Her life is a life of struggle and frustration as she knows this isn't the life she wants. Her narrative takes us back to the day she left Deming behind because she was arrested and deported in an immigration raid (not a spoiler).

A lot more happens, but I would start walking into spoiler territory, so I am going to end there.

I have to write, I loved the parallel lives. Both Daniel and Polly are in places and situations they don't want to be in. They are missing their identities and travel the world kind of lost. Both have major struggles, but they are incredibly different struggles. It was a great piece on identity and not being content with oneself.

The writing in the book drew me in and I just flew through this book. The story doesn't ever really slow at all and at times I didn't want to put it down. It isn't that a lot happens, but you do care about Daniel and Polly. The emotional pull of almost resenting Polly for what she did and the pull back to loving her because she had no other choice, but to give up Deming was a roller coaster.

I cannot recommend this one enough. This is a pure drama, so don't expect comedy breaks or a beach read. This is just a great book that needs time to marinade with.

I gave this one 5 stars.


Tags : Amazon.com: The Leavers (National Book Award Finalist): A Novel (9781616208042): Lisa Ko: Books,Lisa Ko,The Leavers (National Book Award Finalist): A Novel,Algonquin Books,161620804X,Asian American,Coming Of Age,Cultural Heritage,Children of illegal aliens,Children of illegal aliens;Fiction.,Deportation,Illegal aliens,Illegal aliens;Fiction.,Mothers and sons,Mothers and sons;Fiction.,Self-actualization (Psychology),AMERICAN NOVEL AND SHORT STORY,FICTION Asian American,FICTION Coming of Age,FICTION Cultural Heritage,Fiction,Fiction-Coming of Age,FictionAsian American,FictionCultural Heritage,GENERAL,General Adult,National Book Award; Asian American; deportation; adoption; ICE; debut; Bellwether Prize; Ann Patchett; China; Chinese American; Barbara Kingsolver; immigration; fiction about immigration; novels about immigrants; assimilation,National Book Award;Asian American;deportation;adoption;ICE;debut;Bellwether Prize;Ann Patchett;China;Chinese American;Barbara Kingsolver;immigration;fiction about immigration;novels about immigrants;assimilation,United States

The Leavers National Book Award Finalist A Novel Lisa Ko Books Reviews

On one hand, The Leavers, by Lisa Ko is a very specific story, or rather stories. There are two narrators, Polly Guo, who, pregnant, leaves her province in China to try to make a new life in the United States, and Deming Guo, her son. It is the story of trying to make a living as an undocumented worker and the story of growing up in the United States. It is the story of hope and a particular immigrant family whose members do the best they can to make their way.

When he is eleven, Polly disappears from Deming’s life, and for much of the book we don’t know what happens. Deming’s proto-step-father, Leon, also leaves his life, and he is left living with his step-father’s sister, Vivian, and her son Michael, who was a brother to Deming.

Since we see this story through Deming’s eyes, we can only guess at the financial difficulty that finally pushes Vivian to give Deming away. He is, for a brief period, locked away in a foster house, and then adopted by a well-meaning but rather inept white couple in a small college town in New York. Everyone he knew is now gone.

Deming Guo becomes Daniel Wilkinson, unhappy, abandoned, dislocated, frightened. Music is a lifeline, as is his friendship with Roland, a classmate.

The story shifts to Daniel at 22, making music with Roland, trying to make it as a band, although he remains dislocated, unhappy with Roland’s music, but unsure about how to make his own.

We learn that, while at SUNY Potsdam, Daniel became addicted to gambling and had borrowed $10,000 from his closest friend and fellow adoptee, Angel, which he cannot pay back.

As his life unravels around him, he reconnects with Michael and Vivian, and then, through Leon, his mother. We learn that his mother didn’t willfully abandon her son, but was caught up in an ICE raid, detained in a prison camp in Texas, and eventually deported. After having lost Polly, we find her again, and hear her voice again.

This story is about a first-generation American, assimilation, trans-racial adoption, and an undocumented immigrant who is disappeared from her family and her life.

On the other hand, The Leavers is also a universal story. Many of us cannot know what it means to have such a seismic event in our life, one that shifts us from Deming Guo to Daniel Wilkinson. I can’t know this specific story. I can know, however, the feeling of not belonging anywhere, or not really having a home, of never fitting in, about making mistakes and wondering how to right them. My life has never been that fraught with danger and hardship, but there is something about Deming/Daniel in particular that struck a chord in me. “I know,” I want to whisper, “Not everything, but something.”
I found this book interesting but not great. Polly's story was the better part of the book. Deming was hurt and confused by being left behind but at some point I wanted to just shake him and say do what you want or at least move in that direction. The book talks about what he wants to do musically but not very clearly. The book just ends abruptly with him finally doing what he wants but it would have been nice to see a little more success before the book ended. There is no clear resolution with his adoptive parents - are they supportive?
I loved the twists and turns in this well-written story. The characters were complex and alive. Just when you'd start to judge a character, another layer would be exposed that changed your view. Well worth the time to read. I paid full price for this edition and feel like I definitely got my money's worth.
The Leavers by Lisa Ko is a Book of the Month pick this month, but I will be honest in stating I did not pick it as one of my selections for the month. My box already had my 3 choices, so when it came out, I picked it up on my own. I am glad I did as it is a book that had me thinking, it stuck with me, and it was just a great read even in the midst of the difficult topics.

The book opens with Deming Guo and his mother Polly. They are living in a tiny apartment in NYC with relatives and life is a struggle, but all seems well. Polly goes off to work one day and does not return. Deming is brought to child services where he is adopted by a NY suburban couple and is given the name Daniel.

Daniel isn't the perfect child, he struggles in school, he kind of coasts through life, and winds up with a gambling addiction and isolates himself from his friends.

Daniel is haunted by his memories of his previous life. He knows he is not Daniel, but Deming and he knows his mother is out there somewhere, so he begins his search for her and what happened that day.

The narrative shifts to Polly's story. It is a story of coming into NY as an undocumented pregnant woman who is dropped off alone in the world. She has always been independent, but now she is in NY and must work low wage jobs to make ends meet. She has to make tough choices in her life to protect her son. Her life is a life of struggle and frustration as she knows this isn't the life she wants. Her narrative takes us back to the day she left Deming behind because she was arrested and deported in an immigration raid (not a spoiler).

A lot more happens, but I would start walking into spoiler territory, so I am going to end there.

I have to write, I loved the parallel lives. Both Daniel and Polly are in places and situations they don't want to be in. They are missing their identities and travel the world kind of lost. Both have major struggles, but they are incredibly different struggles. It was a great piece on identity and not being content with oneself.

The writing in the book drew me in and I just flew through this book. The story doesn't ever really slow at all and at times I didn't want to put it down. It isn't that a lot happens, but you do care about Daniel and Polly. The emotional pull of almost resenting Polly for what she did and the pull back to loving her because she had no other choice, but to give up Deming was a roller coaster.

I cannot recommend this one enough. This is a pure drama, so don't expect comedy breaks or a beach read. This is just a great book that needs time to marinade with.

I gave this one 5 stars.