This October, Nerdette Book Club is reading Celeste Ng’s new novel, Our Missing Hearts. The book follows Bird, a 12-year-old boy living with his father in an alternate version of the United States, which has undergone a “crisis.” Anti-Asian hate is rampant, children are quietly being taken from their families, and books that are seen as unpatriotic are disappearing from library shelves. Bird’s mother, a Chinese American poet named Margaret, left the family years earlier, leaving Bird with unanswered questions.

Celeste Ng joined us for a spoiler-free conversation on the historical influences behind the novel, the power of myth, and the paradoxes of motherhood. She is also the author of the bestselling novel Little Fires Everywhere, which is now a Hulu original series.

Read the book, then grab your phone and tell us all about it! We will be incorporating your voices in our final book club discussion at the end of the month (spoilers welcome). All you have to do is record a voice memo with your thoughts or questions and email it to us at nerdettepodcast@gmail.com. Happy reading!