In college, he develops a nasty online-gambling habit that causes him to flunk out of school, lose a good friend, and relinquish what little self-confidence he had. Though he lives in a crowded apartment - five people crammed into a one-bedroom in the Bronx - and the adults in his life sometimes leave him home without adult supervision while working long shifts at physically taxing low-wage jobs, he is a carefree fifth-grader who has the complete love and support of his Chinese mother, Polly.īut one day, Polly does not return from work and, within a year, Deming has become Daniel Wilkerson, the adopted son of Peter and Kay, white professors at a liberal arts college in Upstate New York.Īlternating between the point of view of Peilan/Polly and Deming/Daniel, Lisa Ko’s debut novel and winner of the PEN/Bellwether Prize, The Leavers, tells the story of an undocumented immigrant and her American-born son, whose lives are upended by the vagaries of America’s cruel immigration policies.Īfter Polly’s disappearance, her roommates try to look after Deming, but with no money and no word from his mother, they eventually give him over to the state, which quickly finds him a “forever home.”Īs one of the very few minorities in his new hometown, Daniel must deal with issues of abandonment, alienation, and subtle racism. “You could spend years being angry with someone and then realize you no longer feel the same.” Ko’s stunning tale of love and loyalty-to family, to country-is a fresh and moving look at the immigrant experience in America, and is as timely as ever. “It was a funny thing, forgiveness,” Deming finds.

The narration is then taken over by Polly, who describes her journey to America as an unwed pregnant teenager, and the cramped living arrangements and low-paying jobs that finally take her and Deming to the Bronx. And then he learns that his missing mother is alive. But it hardly guarantees a storybook ending Daniel fails in college and struggles to make it as a musician. Weeks later, Deming is handed over to a “new family”-white suburban college teachers Kay and Peter, who name him Daniel.

Eleven-year-old Deming’s mother, Polly, suddenly disappears from the nail salon where she works, leaving him at the Bronx apartment they share with her boyfriend, Leon, Leon’s sister, and her 10-year-old son.

Ko’s debut is a sweeping examination of family through the eyes of a single mother, a Chinese immigrant, and her U.S.-born son, whose separation haunts and defines their lives.

The leavers novel