Our Missing Hearts

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From the bestselling author of Little Fires Everywhere comes a suspenseful and heartrending novel about the unbreakable bond between a mother and child in a fearful society. Twelve-year-old Bird Gardner lives a quiet life with his loving but troubled father, a former linguist now working at Harvard’s library. Their existence is dictated by laws aimed at preserving “American culture” following years of economic turmoil and violence. These laws allow authorities to relocate children of dissidents, particularly those of Asian descent, while libraries must remove books deemed unpatriotic, including the works of Bird’s mother, Margaret, a Chinese American poet who left when he was nine. Bird has grown up disavowing her and her poetry, unaware of her fate. However, a mysterious letter with a cryptic drawing ignites his quest to find her. This journey reconnects him with the folktales she once shared, leads him through an underground network of librarians, and reveals the lives of taken children. Ultimately, it brings him to New York City, where an act of defiance sparks hope for change. This narrative explores how seemingly civilized communities can overlook profound injustices, the power and limitations of art in effecting change, and the enduring lessons we pass to our children amidst a broken world.