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.

A few non-fiction options for March 2017

DUELING WITH KINGS is the first book written by this longtime sports and news journalist, Daniel Barbarisi. Subtitled “High Stakes, Killer Sharks, and the Get-Rich Promise of Daily Fantasy Sports,” this text relays his investigative work and attempts to master Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS). As one colleague commented, “it’s all about the money; so appropriate to have Ben Franklin on the cover.” Barbarisi concentrates on events of 2015 and 2016, relaying the controversies and massive ad campaigns associated with DraftKings and FanDuel. Increased visibility led to concerns about rigged games and legal challenges, especially in New York and Barbarisi interviews key players. He also chronicles his own efforts and adventures with the “sport,” introducing readers to other players with names like Oreo, Underjones, and Beep. DUELING WITH KINGS was recently reviewed in The Wall Street Journal (“How to Swim with the Daily Fantasy Sharks”) and is well-written, sharing statistics like this: 1.3% of DFS players took in 91% of the winnings in the first half of the 2015 baseball season.  

THE CRAVING MIND by Judson Brewer deals with a high interest topic for our students and faculty.  Just recently, we were circulating a New York Times article which dealt with addiction (“Are Teenagers Replacing Drugs with Smartphones?”). Brewer is a psychiatrist and neuroscientist who has studied addictions (Trigger. Behavior. Reward.) for two decades in addition to pioneering work on mindfulness. He subtitles the text “From Cigarettes to Smartphones to Love – Why We Get Hooked and How We Can Break Bad Habits.” Chapters cover the dopamine hit and discuss various addictions (to technology, ourselves, distraction, etc.), concentration, flow, and resilience.  Published by Yale University Press, this scholarly work is completely indexed and filled with references.  It includes a Mindfulness Personality Type survey also available online through the University of Massachusetts. Much to ponder here. And it fits well with the recent FAN speaker (Family Action Network) Adam Alter, who wrote Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked. 

NEVER OUT OF SEASON by Rob Dunn was actually a bit scary to read since it talks about sustainable agriculture and various issues impacting crops and successful future harvests. There is a terrific excerpt about bananas available online through Wired magazine; other sections of the book examine the potato blight and cacao and chocolate, for example.  Dunn, a professor in the Department of Applied Ecology at North Carolina State University, also extols the value of diversity and seed banks which have been established.  Library Journal calls NEVER OUT OF SEASON “accessible,” “comprehensible,” and “recommended for anyone interested in agriculture, agricultural history, food science, or general biology.”  I concur – look for it on our shelves soon.