These are independent reviews of the products mentioned, but TIME receives a commission when purchases are made through affiliate links at no additional cost to the purchaser.
Bird is 12 years old and his life is pretty normal—except that his mother mysteriously vanished one day a few years ago, his father is always on edge, and there are certain things he’s not allowed to ask questions about at school. In Celeste Ng’s shudder-inducing third novel, Our Missing Hearts, the young protagonist slowly begins to realize that something is very wrong with the world in which he’s coming of age—and that finding his mother is the only way to get answers. Ng, whose previous novels subtly probed tensions surrounding race, class, and gender, boldly tackles anti-Asian racism head-on. —Lucy Feldman
Buy Now: Our Missing Hearts on Bookshop | Amazon
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Cybersecurity Experts Are Sounding the Alarm on DOGE
- Meet the 2025 Women of the Year
- The Harsh Truth About Disability Inclusion
- Why Do More Young Adults Have Cancer?
- Colman Domingo Leads With Radical Love
- How to Get Better at Doing Things Alone
- Michelle Zauner Stares Down the Darkness