*Please note the location for this program is Stevens Community Center*

New York Times Bestselling author Celeste Ng discusses her newest novel, Our Missing Hearts, with author Lily King.

Presented in partnership with PRINT: A Bookstore and Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance.

(*Please note, per request of the author and publisher, we are requiring masks be worn at this event. Thank you in advance for your understanding.)

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Ng joins us for her paperback release tour of Our Missing Hearts, an instant New York Times bestseller • A New York Times Notable Book of 2022 • Named a Best Book of 2022 by People, TIME Magazine, The Washington Post, USA Today, NPR, Los Angeles Times, and Oprah Daily, and more • A Reese’s Book Club Pick

About OUR MISSING HEARTS:

From the #1 bestselling author of Little Fires Everywhere, comes the inspiring new novel about a mother’s unbreakable love.

“It’s impossible not to be moved.” —Stephen King, The New York Times Book Review

“Riveting, tender, and timely.” —People, Book of the Week

“Thought-provoking, heart-wrenching . . . I was so invested in the future of this mother and son, and I can’t wait to hear what you think of this deeply suspenseful story!” —Reese Witherspoon (Reese’s Book Club Pick)

Twelve-year-old Bird Gardner lives a quiet existence with his loving father, a former linguist who now shelves books in a university library. His mother Margaret, a Chinese American poet, left without a trace when he was nine years old. He doesn’t know what happened to her—only that her books have been banned—and he resents that she cared more about her work than about him.

Then one day, Bird receives a mysterious letter containing only a cryptic drawing, and soon he is pulled 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 heroic librarians, and finally to New York City, where he will finally learn the truth about what happened to his mother, and what the future holds for them both.

Our Missing Hearts is an old story made new, of the ways supposedly civilized communities can ignore the most searing injustice. It’s about the lessons and legacies we pass on to our children, and the power of art to create change.

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Celeste Ng is the number one New York Times bestselling author of Everything I Never Told You and Little Fires Everywhere, and Our Missing Hearts. Ng is the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation, and her work has been published in over thirty languages.

Lily King is the award-winning author of five novels. Her most recent novel, Writers & Lovers, was published on March 3rd, 2020, and her first collection of short stories, Five Tuesdays in Winter, will be released on November 9, 2021. Her 2014 novel Euphoria won the Kirkus Award, The New England Book Award and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Award. Euphoria was named one of the 10 Best Books of 2014 by The New York Times Book Review. It was included in TIME’s Top 10 Fiction Books of 2014, as well as on Amazon, NPR, Entertainment Weekly, Publishers Weekly, and Salon’s Best Books of 2014.

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About Mechanics’ Hall:

In 1815, the Maine Charitable Mechanic Association formed to support Maine’s creative community: they were blacksmiths, coopers, artists, innovators and creators. Between 1857 and 1859, they built Mechanics’ Hall in Portland – a communal gathering space with a library at its center. Today, Mechanics’ Hall celebrates that rich history through literary arts programs, music, performance and more while working to restore its landmark building as a vibrant cultural resource.

To learn more, please visit Mechanics’ Hall at mechanicshallmaine.org and follow the organization on Instagram @maine.mechanics for weekly programming and community updates.

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