Our Missing Hearts

Starred review from August 1, 2022
Ng’s remarkable dystopian latest (after Little Fires Everywhere) depicts draconian family separation tactics and a normalizing of violence against Asians and Asian Americans in an alternate present. In the wake of the nativist PACT act (Preserving American and Culture Traditions), a piece of legislation that opposes foreign cultural influences, the U.S. government begins reassigning custody of children whose parents are accused of being un-American. Twelve-year-old Bird Gardner lives with his white father, Ethan, a former Harvard language teacher who now shelves books in the university’s library. Bird’s mother, Margaret Miu, a Chinese American poet, vanished three years earlier after her work became seen as subversive. Out of the blue, Bird receives a mysterious drawing from her, reminding him of a fairy tale she used to tell him, which he’s mostly forgotten. In a world where neighbors spy on each other and people with Asian features are frequently attacked on the street, Ethan has long instructed Bird to lay low. But nothing can stop him from looking for Margaret. While searching for a book that might contain the story Margaret used to tell him, he discovers a network of librarians who secretly collect information about children seized from their families and learns how Margaret’s work inspired anti-PACT art demonstrations. Ng crafts an affecting family drama out of the chilling and charged atmosphere, and shines especially when offering testimony to the power of art and storytelling (here’s Bird remembering the fairy tale in his mother’s voice, “painting a picture with words on the blank white wall of his mind. Long buried. Crackling as it surfaced in the air once more”). Like Margaret’s story, Ng’s latest crackles and sizzles all the way to the end.

Starred review from March 1, 2023

In this timely and heart-wrenching novel, author Ng (Little Fires Everywhere) takes listeners to a time in the near future when the United States is ruled by fear and compliance with PACT--the dictatorial Preserving American Culture and Traditions Act. Passed during a time known as the Crisis, PACT harnessed fear and suspicion to legalize horrific acts, including rehoming children of dissidents (often Asian Americans) and purging libraries of books that are deemed unpatriotic. The main character, Bird Gardner, lost his mother because a line from a poem she wrote became the rallying cry of the opposition movement. His journey to find her is the heart of this story. Along the way, Ng reveals both the power and the limitations of art to bring about change, and the importance of trying, no matter the end result. Actor Lucy Liu infuses her narration with tension, adding to the unease that runs throughout the book. VERDICT Liu's gritty and driving narration stays true to the thrust of Ng's grim words; this is not a cozy listen, but one that keeps listeners on the edge of their seats. A necessary addition for all public libraries.--Gretchen Pruett

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