The following announcement was provided by the Watertown Library:
This year, the Watertown Free Public Library’s One Book, One Watertown selection invites us to consider what happens when we reject hostility and dread to embrace compassion and curiosity. Our Missing Hearts by bestselling author Celeste Ng is a poignant tale of family survival, and a powerful refusal to abandon hope.
All community members are invited to check out the book from the Library, and join in themed programs during the month of March. This year’s community read will culminate in “An Evening with Celeste Ng” on Thursday, March 21 at the Watertown Free Public Library, free to all. Registration begins on March 1st.
Our Missing Hearts can be reserved in the Library catalog at watertownlib.org. Extra paperback copies are going fast but will be displayed on the second floor of Watertown Free Public Library, across from the Reference Desk, as they are available. eAudiobook and eBook copies can be reserved through the Library’s free Libby app.
For more information, and to view a list of upcoming programs, visit: watertownlib.org/onebook
About Our Missing Hearts
In a Cambridge not unlike our own, twelve-year-old Bird Gardner and his father must not draw attention to themselves. Bird’s mother—a celebrated poet of the resistance—has spent years in hiding. The Preserving American Cultures & Traditions Act (PACT) has ushered in a new era of McCarthyism and surveillance, especially of Chinese and Asian American families. Books have been pulled from shelves, curriculum and history have been rewritten, and children are removed from homes deemed “unAmerican.” When a mysterious letter arrives for Bird, he’s determined to learn the truth about his mother. Maybe Bird can find her again, with the help of friends, folktales, and librarians running an underground communication network. Our Missing Hearts asks us who we are in the face of fascism and whether we are brave enough to face and speak the truth. In the spirit of Fahrenheit 451 and Parable of the Sower, Ng captures how ordinary people can transform their perceived powerlessness into hope through collective creativity.
About One Book, One Watertown
Each year, the Watertown Free Public Library chooses a book, encourages everyone in the community to read it along with us, and hosts a variety of programs related to the book, its setting, and its themes. This community reading program is known as One Book, One Watertown. Selected titles are usually announced in mid to late December, and hundreds of copies of the book become available for borrowing at the beginning of the calendar year. Programs take place during the month of March.
The Watertown Free Public Library provides access to a wide variety of popular materials, resources, services, and programs that fulfill the informational, cultural, and recreational needs of Watertown and surrounding communities. Our Library works to create an environment that attracts and welcomes users of all ages and abilities.