The Leavers by Lisa Ko and other summer reading

THE LEAVERS by Lisa Ko is newly published book which won the 2016 PEN/Bellwether Award for Socially Engaged Fiction due to its exploration of the US immigration system. THE LEAVERS has been getting some positive “buzz” lately; here’s a link to The Atlantic’s review. The story of Deming/Daniel and his mother made me think of the movie The Lion since that main character also struggles with questions of identity and is torn between a birth family and an adoptive one. There were elements of Girl in Translation and Lucky Boy also, since Peilan/Polly (his birth mother) struggles to adapt to the United States and deal with the ramifications of her illegal status.

I felt though that the story dragged a bit at times and that the characters, especially Deming/Daniel with his gambling habit, did not promote much empathy. Nevertheless, THE LEAVERS received starred reviews from Library Journal and Publishers Weekly and you may want to add it to your summer reading list.  Be sure to check out and enjoy the many, many suggestions posted on this Summer Reading LibGuide by Deborah Lazar, retiring Northfield Librarian.