Our Missing Hearts

In a society grappling with "Preservation" laws that curb dissent, twelve-year-old Bird Gardner lives a quiet life with his father, a former linguist. His Chinese American poet mother, Margaret, vanished three years prior, her books banned and her memory a painful silence. Bird, resenting her perceived abandonment for her art, suddenly receives a cryptic letter—a drawing that ignites a perilous quest. His journey pulls him through his mother's cherished folktales, into a covert network of heroic librarians dedicated to preserving forbidden stories, and ultimately to New York City. There, he confronts the truth about his mother's disappearance, the profound reasons behind her actions, and the devastating cost of a society that chooses to ignore injustice. 'Our Missing Hearts' is a poignant exploration of parental love, the power of art as resistance, and the enduring legacy we pass to future generations in the face of systemic oppression.