The Water Beetles

Winner, 2018 Amazon Canada First Novel Award, 2018 McNally Robinson Book of the Year, and 2018 Margaret Laurence Award for FictionShortlisted, 2017 Governor General's Award for Fiction and 2018 Eileen McTavish Sykes Award for Best First BookA National Post Best Book of 2017A Walter Scott Prize Academy Recommended Historical Novel of 2017On CBC Books' list of writers to watch in 2018The Leung family leads a life of secluded luxury in Hong Kong. But in December 1941, the Empire of Japan invades the colony. The family is quickly dragged into a spiral of violence, repression, and starvation. To survive, they entomb themselves and their friends in the Leung mansion. But this is only a temporary reprieve, and the Leungs are forced to send their children away. The youngest boy, Chung-Man, escapes with some of his siblings, and together they travel deep into the countryside to avoid the Japanese invaders. Thrown into a new world,...