Lark & Owl Book Club Discussion: Owls

205 West 6th Street,Georgetown TX 78626

30 November, 2022

Description

Join us for a discussion of a deeply suspenseful and heartrending novel about the unbreakable love between a mother and child in a society consumed by fear, by New York Times Bestseller Celeste Ng. “Ng crafts an affecting family drama out of the chilling and charged atmosphere, and shines especially when offering testimony to the power of art and storytelling… Like Margaret’s story, Ng’s latest crackles and sizzles all the way to the end.” — PUBLISHERS WEEKLY About OUR MISSING HEARTS: Twelve-year-old Bird Gardner lives a quiet existence with his loving but broken father, a former linguist who now shelves books in a university library. Bird knows to not ask too many questions, stand out too much, or stray too far. For a decade, their lives have been governed by laws written to preserve “American culture” in the wake of years of economic instability and violence. To keep the peace and restore prosperity, the authorities are now allowed to relocate children of dissidents, especially those of Asian origin, and libraries have been forced to remove books seen as unpatriotic—including the work of Bird’s mother, Margaret, a Chinese American poet who left the family when he was nine years old. Bird has grown up disavowing his mother and her poems; he doesn’t know her work or what happened to her, and he knows he shouldn’t wonder. But when he receives a mysterious letter containing only a cryptic drawing, he is drawn into a quest to find her. His journey will take him back to the many folktales she poured into his head as a child, through the ranks of an underground network of librarians, into the lives of the children who have been taken, and finally to New York City, where a new act of defiance may be the beginning of much-needed change. Our Missing Hearts is an old story made new, of the ways supposedly civilized communities can pretend to ignore the most searing injustice. It’s a story about the power—and limitations—of art to create change, the lessons and legacies we pass on to our children, and how any of us can survive a broken world with our hearts intact. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ **Update to the Lark & Owl Book Club policy** In order to balance the continued interest in our book clubs with the frequent no-shows, we have moved to a $5.00 fee for all book club events. At the book club meeting, all registered attendees will be given a $5.00 voucher to be used towards the next book club book, or a future purchase. Any individuals who register but do not attend will have 1 week from the event date to pick up their voucher from the bookstore. If the voucher is not claimed, it will be considered forfeited. Please be mindful of this change in policy as you are registering!