Lynnie 
contemporary fiction
I have very mixed feelings about The Leavers. On the one hand, it's a solid and compelling story- Deming Guo is raised by a single mother in NYC, after spending years with his grandfather in China. One day, his mother goes to work and never comes home, leading to his eventual adoption by an American family who change his name to Daniel Wilkinson. On the other hand, it was really depressing.
This is the problem, I've no doubt that Lisa Ko wrote a very realistic situation and certainly Deming/Daniel's reactions and attitude make complete sense; he is a real example of a little boy lost. Most of the time in the book I felt pity for pretty much all of the characters and at times it was simply exhausting to read about so much misery and unhappiness. In the end, I just prefer a more uplifting story to one that is so realistic no matter how well-written.
This is a very timely book, but also emotionally draining and heartbreaking. Mostly, it was Deming/Daniel's discomfort in his own skin that I found most difficult to read.
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