The release date for the English version of 'The Leavers' by
Lisa Ko is May 2017. If you enjoy this novel, it is available for buy as a paperback from Barnes & Noble or Indigo, as an ebook on the Amazon Kindle store, or as an audiobook on Audible.
Undocumented Chinese immigrant Polly, the mother of Deming Guo, leaves her house early one morning to work at a nail shop and never returns. Nobody can locate any evidence of her.
Eleven-year-old Deming is left without anybody to look after him when his mother passes away. In the end, two white college professors adopt him and take him from the Bronx to an upstate tiny town. They call him Daniel Wilkinson in an attempt to transform him into their ideal of a "boy from America." Daniel finds it difficult to connect his new existence with the memories of his previous family and town, even if it is far apart from all he has ever known, including his mother's absence.
The Leavers is a striking and poignant study of boundaries and belonging that is set in both China and New York. It is the tale of a youngster who, after losing all he has ever known, comes into his own and of a mother who must learn to cope with her past transgressions.
The 2016 PEN/Bellwether Prize for Fiction went to this impressive debut, which Barbara Kingsolver presented for a book that tackles social justice concerns.