Thank you Net Galley for my review copy of this book. Deming is a young boy of 11 when his mother Polly an undocumented Chinese immigrant never comes home from work one day. Polly’s boyfriend and his sister keep him for a short time but are not able to care for him after it becomes clear Polly is not coming back. Deming is adopted by 2 college professors who change his name to Daniel and give him a life he should be grateful for. Yet Daniel struggles to accept this new reality and finds it hard to be someone he is not.

Told in sections from the point of view of both Daniel and Polly the story slowly unfolds with so much power and emotion. This story is one of hardship and heartbreak as well as triumph and love. The characters are so well developed and the storyline is utterly compelling. This book covers so many important topics that are heartbreaking and so hard to believe but they are real. A fantastic debut that everyone needs to read!

I was pleasantly surprised by the relevancy and depth in this novel. Deming (Daniel) and Polly were dynamic and engaging characters, although I felt a great deal of frustration with him from time to time. This novel touches on several important topics regarding immigration, heritage, and the importance of being ourselves rather than forced into perfect little boxes.

I did not finish this book. I got several chapters in and felt like I couldn't connect with the story or the character. I don't want to say that this is the explicit fault of the book or the writing--it could very well be my state of mind at the time of reading--but still, the fact remains that it didn't grab me, and I do not see myself finishing this book.

A recent online test by Time magazine has been flying around the internet — it uses rules outlined in President Trump’s proposed immigration reform to determine if you, the test-taker, would be approved for a visa under Trump’s RAISE Act. The minimum score is 30 points, and the desirable qualities toward those points include youth, higher education, and deep pockets. Isn’t that all of us? Not so. (This writer scored a 28.)

Even the 2016 Nobel Laureate in literature, Svetlana Alexievich — honored “for her polyphonic writings, a monument to suffering and courage in our time” — is apparently not good enough for this country under Trump’s plan. Unless, of course, the Belarusian writer who spends most of her time collecting oral histories about what life was like pre- and post-Soviet Union has $1.35 million to invest. Then this administration would be willing to overlook her dabbling in the dark, low-yielding arts of the humanities.

Apparently, it doesn’t matter if you’ve dedicated your life to “trying to understand why suffering cannot be converted to freedom” if you also cannot convert that thought into currency.

But enough about real people. What about 2017’s fictional recent arrivals? How would they fare in this test? I looked at three debut novels published this year that feature fictional immigrant newcomers, and took the liberty to fill out the test for them to see how they’d do.

[...]

The Leavers by Lisa Ko
Score: 8
Applicant: Peilan
Origin: China
Status: Ineligible

This touching and sensitive novel, which won the PEN/Bellwether Prize, is the story of a boy whose mother is undocumented and one day does not return from work. A white family adopts the boy, Deming, but he is never able to put from his mind his mother’s disappearance. Lisa Ko is a subtle, intelligent writer, drawing up the complications of assimilation in simple terms. When Deming’s mother, Peilan, arrives to America, she becomes Polly. “So it was Polly, not Peilan, who was doing thirteen-hour shifts in a garment factory, the same work Peilan had done in China except for eight times more money, and it was Polly who paid too much rent for a sleeping bag on the floor.” For his part, Deming is renamed Daniel by his adoptive parents: “Daniel had lay dormant in Deming until adolescence, and now Deming was a hairball tumor jammed deep in Daniel’s gut.” A beautiful, daring debut.

Immigration Test Notes: Peilan, who comes into the U.S. as undocumented, does not speak good English, does not get very many points for schooling, and also, she did not recently win an Olympic medal.

[...]

I honestly could tell by the writing of the first 2 chapters that it wouldn't be a good fit for our box and had to put it down. I may read it again in the future!

This isn't my usual type of book to read but I am glad I took the time. Deming is a touching character that makes you take a hard look at the people around you and what hardships they might be going through. Everyone has a story to tell and every life can be made or broken by the choices we make every day.
This was read as an ARC through netgalley.com.

One morning Deming's mother just leaves. No note, no reason, no contact. Over the course of 20 years, we learn the whole story.

This is a touching, maddening story of love and loss that leads from NY to China. Deming (Daniel) is sometimes an annoying character, drifting through life when he should be taking the advice of everyone around him. But at the heart of his unproductive life is the loss of his mother and his heritage. The story unfolds in several voices and in flashbacks and by the end, the reader is satisfied.

Not the best book I've read this year, but a touching story worth reading nonetheless.

Thought provoking storyline! I am ashamed to say as a US citizen, I have never thought about the children of illegal immigrants and what happens to them if their parents are deported!

Sometimes the things we do to save the world can actually destroy it. Deming, born in America to an undocumented Chinese woman knows only poverty, but love from his mother and makeshift family of roomates. But when he turns 11, his mother disappears, as does all his world. A couple receive him with wide open arms, well meaning but not well versed in adopting a racially different preteen. Deming becomes Daniel Wilkenson and he lands between two worlds. Lisa Ko brings up delicate yet relevant issues such as immigration, racial prejudices, adoption, and those lost souls who just don't know what they want. Her artful work inspires us all to reflect on how our expectations impact the lives of others.

Really riveting and unputdownable. I read this in one sitting and I loved it!

I am rereading this book. I love books about family histories and asian heritage and this one ticks all the boxes!

Really enjoyed this story of an immigrant mother and her son and the trials that separate them. Gritty without being over-dramatic. Good story of relationships in the context of a world I knew almost nothing about - Chinese immigrants in NYC.

Deming Guo/Daniel Wilkinson has never had much stability in his life. He was born in New York to an undocumented Chinese immigrant, but was sent to live with family in China when he was only one year old. He was sent back to New York to live with his mother when he turned six. Five years later, his mother disappears without a trace. Peilan/Polly Guo left for work one morning and never returned. At the age of eleven, the people he thought were his family place him in the foster care system. He's adopted by a white family in a suburban community. 

Deming's feelings towards his adoptive parents are complicated. He desperately wants their approval, but he's never sure what they want from him. They mean well and give him a comfortable life, but they’re out of touch. They insist on complete assimilation, even going as far as changing his name to Daniel. Occasionally they try to incorporate their own conception of Chinese culture into his life, but they don't ask for his input and there's no consideration of how varied cultures can be in such a large country. They aren't sensitive to his unique circumstances and develop a "colorblind" approach to parenting him.When he overhears a racist comment, his adoptive mother panics and insists that he misheard. She often seems to view life in China as inferior to life in the United States. She doesn't realize her view of China may be biased, that her life isn't the only type of life worth living, or even that her suburban community insulates her from some of the United States's own problems.

With all that he's been through in his twenty-one years, it's no surprise that Deming/Daniel struggles with issues of identity and belonging. He blames himself for his mother’s disappearance. He feels unwanted and undeserving of love. A fear of letting people down forces him to keep people at an arm's length. When he's uprooted from Chinatown and placed in the predominately white and middle-class Ridgeborough, NY, he has to learn to navigate a completely different culture. He endures a constant onslaught of thoughtless comments and is exhausted by being both invisible and conspicuous at the same time. All throughout the book, he's forced to compartmentalize his feelings and be careful about what he reveals to each person in his life. He can't even completely relax with his closest friends: "Be careful. They're not on your side. It's important to be strong." He tries so hard to fit in, to the point of losing himself altogether: "Daniel was malleable, everyone and no one, a collector of moods, a careful observer of the right thing to say.” The issues that Deming struggles with from having few family connections and a complicated parent really resonated with me. One of the most heartbreaking moments was when he felt embarrassment at referring to his mother as "Mama," because "it felt like he was claiming something that didn’t belong to him."

I was really interested in Daniel's perspective on life, but his chapters felt uneven. He had so much going on in his life, and his musical obsession and gambling problem were a little boring for me. Peilan's chapters took the book to the next level. Peilan has never been content to stand still and lives for the excitement of new beginnings. She writes about growing up in China, the series of events that brought her to the United States, and the struggles of starting over in a place far away from everything she'd ever known. She immigrated to the United States in hopes of a better life and financial success, but moving up the economic ladder is almost impossible between low-wage jobs, unexpected expenses, and mounting debt. Despite the new location, she finds herself encountering similar roadblocks as she did in China. She manages to build her own little family in the New York, but she feels isolated when her son speaks in rapid English that she can't understand or she hears her boyfriend exchanging family stories with his sister. She also feels suffocated by motherhood and the heavy responsibility of guiding her son in the right direction.

When Deming remembers his short relationship with his mother, he remembers being "enough" and not having to try so hard to be accepted. Despite spending only five years together, there are many parallels to how Deming and Peilan experience the world. They find comfort in disorder, knowing "that nothing stayed the same for too long, that each day was a new opportunity for reinvention." They both experience synesthesia. They imagine other versions of themselves leading different lives. They both feel their pasts and everyone who has touched their lives as a physical weight. Getting to know Deming and Peilan as individuals shows how family bonds go much deeper than the biological.

There's also the recurring theme of a parent's expectations conflicting with their child's needs and desires. There are both parents who see their child's successes and deficiencies as a reflection of themselves and those who don't expect anything from their children at all. In addition to the forced assimilation, Daniel's parents dissuade him from being a musician. They want him to follow in their footsteps. Both his biological and adoptive mothers had parents who expected little of them because of their gender. They were both were determined to shatter those low expectations, but it was still a source of resentment. Will Daniel ever grow comfortable in his own skin and learn to live for himself?

Did Peilan leave Deming by choice or was she taken from him by force? The Leavers is a thought-proving story about belonging, identity, and what it means to be a family. These flawed characters make awful choices and even made me angry sometimes, but I could understand how they evolved into the people they were and how they were able to rationalize their choices. The characters fool themselves to protect a life they've grown accustomed to, but they can never completely escape what they're running from, regardless of the distance they put between themselves and their problems.

The author Lisa Ko was inspired by a real-life story. Spoiler Alert: There are some parallels, so don't read if you haven't read the book!

Fascinating and well written on a subject not usually addressed in the immigrant discussion. You will never look at a nail salon the same way again.

Different voices give the reader insight into the character's psyches. Heartbreaking portrayal of how every decision and assumption impacts one's life path and the dirty truth of the immigration experience.

A touching story of acceptance and forgiveness as mother and son struggle themselves as well as each other.

This was an interesting take on the immigrant experience, but ultimately I found it quite hard to connect with the key characters, and the structure became a bit confusing at times. But there were elements i did enjoy.

I read this book in two days and wasn't ready for it to end, yet couldn't bear to put it down. Lisa Ko tackles so many subjects that resonated with me: parenting, immigration, identity, and the changes in China over the last couple decades. I can't wait for more from Lisa Ko!

This is a sad, compelling read. While Ko's writing isn't as interesting as are her themes, we become involved with her characters and their very timely plights.