The Leavers by Lisa Ko

 

Demming Guo and his mother Polly don't have much time together.  Polly came to the United States undocumented and had Demming there, making him a citizen.  But she sent him back to China to live with his grandfather when he was one as she didn't have anyone to watch him and had to work to pay back her passage.  Demming came back to New York and Polly when he was five after his grandfather died.  By then, Polly had given up factory work and was working in a nail salon, living with her boyfriend Leon, his sister Vivian and her son Michael.  

Demming had from five to twelve with his mother, the person he adored above all others.  Then she started getting antsy and talked about moving them to Florida.  When she disappeared, everyone thought she had gone without Demming or telling anyone.  Eventually, Vivian signed Demming over to social services and he was adopted by a set of white college professors in New England.

He had lost all track of his mother and had no hope of finding her.  He went back to New York only to find Leon, Michael and Vivian gone also from their apartment.  Demming grew up being called Daniel by his parents.  They wanted him to follow them into an academic career.  Demming wanted to play music and went back to the city to play with a friend from high school.  Just as they were about to break through, Demming's got into gambling and debt.  He lost his friends over money and lost his parents over refusal to do what they wanted.

But he was contacted out of the blue by Michael and eventually found Leon in China and from there he found his mother's number.  She had been in China all those years, deported back in an ICE sweep but never contacting Demming as she had no way of finding him.  He starts talking with her and the connection is instantaneous across the years.  Will he reconnect?

Lisa Ko has written a haunting story of connection and family.  What makes a family?  Is it the blood connection or is it whoever shows up to take care of a child.  Both Demming and Polly are restless souls, constantly moving and changing their lives to try to find a fit.  Polly is ambitious and determined to make a life that is comfortable while Demming just wants to find a place to belong.  This novel was a National Book Award Finalist and is recommended for readers of literary fiction.