Our Missing Hearts

Bird, born Noah, is the 11-year-old biracial protagonist of Our Missing Hearts. His chosen nickname, Bird, is symbolic of his personality: Like a bird, he wishes to fly free, and doesn’t understand why his mother, Margaret, left the family years ago. He shares a close relationship with his father, Ethan, but still misses his mother. Bird often feels constrained because his father wants him to stay under the radar. The former is victimized by racism because he is an Asian American living in a society that has decided Asians are not real Americans. Bird lives a quiet life until he meets Sadie, a schoolmate who reveals the role his mother’s poetry played in anti-PACT (“Preserving American Culture and Traditions”) protests. He proceeds to follow the clues his mother left him, hoping to be reunited with her. As Bird hears his mother’s story about the Crisis and her involvement in anti-PACT activism, so does the reader. Bird is the conduit for the reader’s own understanding of Celeste Ng’s world, as he is just as ignorant of the past. The boy easily forgives his mother for leaving, emphasizing his empathy. This innocence and genuine desire to do good reinforce Ng’s choice of a child protagonist.