Our Missing Hearts

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.