The Leavers
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 First edition cover | |
| Author | Lisa Ko |
|---|---|
| Audio read by | Emily Woo Zeller |
| Genre | |
| Publisher | Algonquin Books |
Publication date | May 2, 2017 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type |
|
| Pages | 338 pp. (hardcover 1st ed) |
| Awards |
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| ISBN | 9781616206888 |
| OCLC | 953599445 |
| LC Class | PS3611.O135 L43 2017 |
| Website | http://lisa-ko.com/theleavers |
The Leavers is Lisa Ko's first novel published on May 2, 2017, by Algonquin Books.
Ko's novel was inspired by a 2009 article in The New York Times describing an undocumented immigrant from Fuzhou, China, who was arrested at a Greyhound station in Florida on her way to a new job and spent a year and a half in detention.[3]
Plot
Told in four parts, the novel begins as Deming Guo's mother Polly suddenly disappears from the family's New York City apartment without warning. Deming is placed into foster care, ultimately to be adopted by a suburban couple, Kay and Peter. Five hours away from the city in Ridgeburough, Deming Guo becomes Daniel Wilkinson. Deming/Daniel searches for a sense of connection, belonging, and identity in a new home with a new family.
Part II introduces Polly's story.