Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng

 

Bird Gardner lives with his mother and father in a happy home.  But disaster awaits.  The government has passed a law called PACT, Preserving American Culture and Traditions Act.  It brings a wave of censorship with books from other cultures disappearing from libraries.  Anyone who speaks against the law or tries to champion other cultures runs to the risk of imprisonment.  Or even worse, parents who are found in violation of PACT can have their children suddenly removed from their home and rehomed with another family far away and with no way for the parents to find out where their child now lives.

The Gardners are in jeopardy.  Bird's mother is Chinese and her parents died of anti-Asian violence.  Worse, a poem that Margaret, Bird's mother, wrote years before has been adopted by those rebelling against PACT, a phrase from the poem, 'Our Missing Hearts'  becoming their slogan.  This puts the Gardners squarely in the crosshairs and the parents make a heartbreaking decision.  In order to protect Bird and make sure he isn't rehomed, Margaret leaves the family and has no contact afterwards, no letters, no phone calls, no communication.  That allows Bird's father to continue to raise Bird.

When Bird gets old enough to question where his mother is and why she left, he finds a clue that could lead him to her.  He takes off by himself to find his mother and join her fight.  Will he be successful?

Celeste Ng is known for writing novels that talk about situations that challenge families.  Her exploration of  Asian prejudice and censorship in a time of increased book banning feels prescient.  The reader will fall in love with Bird and rally to the side of those fighting for freedom in an increasingly limited country.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.