From the Bookshelf of Tyler Public Library…

[close] Immigration is a real hot button topic these days and engenders strong opinions. Ko’s novel, The Leavers, is a story of a young Chinese-American boy, Deming Guo, who at age 11comes home from school one day to find his undocumented mother, Polly, missing. No one knows what really happened to Polly, but Deming ends up being fostered and then adopted by a well- meaning professional couple. However, Deming, now renamed Daniel by his new parents, never loses the feeling of abandonment and in his young adult years develops a gambling addiction, drops out of college and drifts aimlessly while trying to discover himself.
“He recalled how she and Peter had insisted on English, his new name, the right education. How better and more hinged on their ideas of success, their plans. Mama, Chinese, the Bronx, and Deming: they had never been enough. He shivered, and for a brief, horrible moment, he could see himself the way he realized they saw him - as someone who needed to be saved.”
Even educated, well-intentioned parents will struggle raising a child, but Deming’s heartbreak is never forgotten and healing is a long journey which will take him back to Fuzhou, China. I recommend this novel for anyone who is interested in knowing what it is like to be an undocumented immigrant. I think it’s important to know how these people are treated by our government and then to ask ourselves if we can’t find a solution that treats all humans with dignity and respect. Are we not our brother’s keeper?
Winner of the 2016 PEN/Bellwether Award for Socially Engaged fiction, Ko’s novel is a thought –provoking assessment of today’s immigration issues. I highly recommend it for all readers of contemporary fiction.