The Leavers by Lisa Ko

I have never read a Lisa Ko novel before. I was intrigued by the dust jacket description I had read in Barnes and Noble. It was a perk that it was part of the Summer Reading Challenge that Book Sparks was giving. 

I liked this book and I didn't like this book. Deming Guo, an American-born, Chinese immigrant was sent to live with his grandfather in China after his mother couldn't afford to keep him in New York City. He lived there until he was 6 years old, then his mother sent for him to come back. Peilan (Polly) Guo is an undocumented Chinese woman who struggles to stay in one place at any given time. She lives with her boyfriend Leon and his sister and her son, Michael. Deming and Michael are like brothers. Peilan decides one day she wants to move to Florida, gets in an argument with Leon about it, and heads off to work at a Nail Salon.  She never comes back to Deming or Leon and no one knows where she disappeared to. Did she abandon Deming or did something happen to her?  You have to read the book to find out.

Lisa Ko does a great job of helping the reader feel the frustration and rejection that Deming has when his mother "abandons" him. He is 11 years old, a very important time in a young man's life.
Leon's sister Vivian cannot take care of her own son, let alone Deming so she places him in Foster Care where the Wilkersons, an Academia couple, adopt Deming, move him to the small town of Ridgborough completely foreign from his beloved Bronx. "He tried to tuck away the Bronx in scraps and shards." It is word usage like this that will keep you reading The Leavers.

My frustration with the book is going from the third-person narrative when it comes to Deming's story and then the first-person voice of Peilan, the one person whom I felt shouldn't be allowed to tell her own story and be addressing Deming as if she is writing a love letter to him about her life. She is an avoider of truth when it comes to Deming, and then wants all the attention and understanding for what she has gone through. She was an adult, he was a child. She couldn't control what happened to her at the Nail Salon, however, she could have found her child when she was finally back in China.

When a child loses a parent, the child suffers from an identity crisis, especially if you go to live with someone who doesn't speak your native language, doesn't understand your culture, and doesn't understand the child they have adopted, this is Kay and Peter Wilkerson. They want Deming to automatically adjust to their lives, their way of doing things, even down to changing his name the first week they take him in. "When school started they said it would be easier with an American name. Though it wasn't official. His birth certificate, Kay explained, still said, Deming Guo." This happens to formulate Daniel's life. Trying to fit in with his suburbia adoptive parents but having a spirit of the city and the non-academic drive they want him to have. He is not as they find out the "normal" Chinese student. What exactly is normal anyway?  He doesn't thrive on structure, a desire to excel in education, or find a career that someone with a drive to show the world they are needed. He wants to be a musician, play in a band at night at the local coffee shops, and make do with this life. The Wilkerson's don't know how to handle this.

11 years later, Pelian is found, Michael of all people knows where she is. Daniel calls her, she ignores the calls. Finally, she accepts a call. He goes to find her and confront her. Why didn't she look for him, why did she run?

Pelian again is at a lack for words. I found her unlikeable. Her saving grace is Leon. Leon who still treats Deming as his son, the ex-boyfriend who also lives in China now and helps Deming find Pelian.

There is a tragedy in this story. The writer would like it to be Pelian, However, the tragedy swirls in, through, and around Deming...

Even though Pelian bothers me, I found this book to be well-written, well-developed characters, and Demming highly likable. I could understand his feelings, his struggles, and his issues with fitting in.