The Leavers by Lisa Ko

For this month’s Book of the Month club I picked The Leavers by Lisa Ko and I found it fitting to this book to be my first review. I found the description to be very appealing especially with the political climate in the United States. What happens when an undocumented parent goes to work and never comes back? This is precisely what happened to eleven-year-old Deming Guo. Deming’s Chinese immigrant mother named Polly goes to her job at the nail salon and does not return. Deming gets adopted by a couple who try to provide the best they could for Deming, who later is named Daniel. As the story unfolds, we learn what happened to Polly. I found the book to be interesting because it deals with the immigration experience, which is mostly from Polly’s point of view. It was interesting to read how Deming/Daniel shifted between both names. As a child and adult, he struggled finding his identity. First, as the son of immigrant parent and then as an adoptee.

I am normally a fast reader, but this book I took my time reading it because I wanted to take my time understanding all the characters feelings.  Reading first how Deming first felt scared, then angry and ultimately abandoned it is hard to imagine. The Leavers granted me even further empathy for the plight of immigrants, children and adoptive parents. I highly recommend this book, it starts off a bit slow but it’s definitely worth the wait.

Book reviewed by Raisa