The Leavers: A Novel

"Eleven-year-old Deming’s mother, Polly, is a Chinese immigrant, in the country illegally. One day she goes to her job at a nail salon and never returns. Ten years later, Deming goes by Daniel, and he is a college dropout with a gambling problem – and then someone from his past unexpectedly contacts him with information about his mother. The Leavers is plotted like a good mystery, but that is not really the point. Instead, it’s a heartbreaking account of the terrible circumstances that would cause a mother to abandon her son."