The father of 12-year-old Bird Gardner, a former linguist who now works as a book shelf in Harvard's library, is a loving but damaged man. He is aware of the dangers of over-inquiring, standing out, and wandering too far. In the midst of years of economic unrest and bloodshed, regulations meant to protect "American culture" have controlled their lives for the past ten years. Libraries have been ordered to remove works deemed unpatriotic, including the work of Bird's mother, Margaret, a Chinese American poet who left the family when he was nine years old. All of these measures have been taken in an effort to maintain peace and restore prosperity. Bird has spent his entire life disowning his mother and her poetry; he is unaware of her work or what has happened to her, and he is aware that he shouldn't be curious. But he is compelled to search for her after receiving an enigmatic message that is only accompanied by a puzzling drawing. His journey will lead him through the numerous folktales she instilled in him as a child, the ranks of a clandestine network of libraries, into the lives of the kidnapped children, and finally to New York, where a new act of resistance may be the start of much-needed reform. Our Missing Hearts is an old story made new, of the ways supposedly civilized communities can turn a blind eye to the most searing injustice. It's a story about the power - and limitations - of art to create change in the world, the lessons and legacies we pass onto our children, and how any of us can survive a broken world with our hearts intact.