Library: The Leavers: Common Read

Events

Author Lisa Ko to Speak at Cal Maritime, October 2, 11:00

Check out a copy from the Library!

The Leavers by Lisa Ko
Call Number: PS3611.O135 L43 2017

From the publisher:

One morning, Deming Guo’s mother Polly goes to her job at the nail salon and never comes home. Left with no one to care for him, eleven-year-old Deming is eventually adopted by two white college professors who move him from the Bronx to a small town upstate. They rename him Daniel Wilkinson in their efforts to make him over into their version of an “all-American boy.” But far away from all he’s ever known, Daniel struggles to reconcile his new life with his mother’s disappearance and the memories of the family and community he left behind.

A vivid and moving examination of borders and belonging,The Leavers is the story of how one boy comes into his own when everything he’s loved has been taken away—and how one woman learns to live with the mistakes of her past.

The Leavers was a finalist for the 2017 National Book Award for Fiction and the winner of the 2016 PEN/Bellwether Award for Socially Engaged Fiction.

How was this book selected?

Common Reading Selection Committee, 2017-18

Michele Van Hoeck, Co-Chair, Dean of Library

Aparna Sinha, Co-Chair, Culture & Communication

Julie Chisholm, Culture & Communication

Margot Hanson, Library

Mike Holden, Mechanical Engineering

Elaine Kociolek, Student Engagement & Academic Support

Alex Parker, Science & Math

Amy Parsons, Culture & Communication

Martin Shimada, student

Marissa Sutro, Marine Transportation

More about the Common Reading Program objectives, selection criteria, and finalists

About the Book

Chapter One Excerpt
Read an excerpt from The Leavers online, courtesy of the publisher.
Book Review from The Atlantic
"Lisa Ko’s novel, about the disappearance of an undocumented mother, places an imperfect victim within a cruel system."
Book Review from New York Times
"Should fiction be relevant or timeless? Should it aim to put a human face on issues of the day? And if so, is that enough? Should it do more? Lisa Ko’s debut novel, “The Leavers,” brings these perennial questions to mind."
About the PEN/Bellweather Award
The Bellwether Prize was created to promote fiction that addresses issues of social justice and the impact of culture and politics on human relationships. Established by Barbara Kingsolver in 2000 and funded entirely by her, it is awarded biennially to the author of a previously unpublished novel of high literary caliber that exemplifies the prize’s founding principles.

About the Author

photo by Art Streiber for iBooks

About Lisa Ko
Lisa Ko is the author of The Leavers. Her writing has appeared in Best American Short Stories 2016, The New York Times, BuzzFeed, O. Magazine, and elsewhere. She has been awarded fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, and the MacDowell Colony, among others. Born in Queens and raised in New Jersey, she lives in Brooklyn.