Our Missing Hearts

Celeste NgFiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2022

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

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Introduction

Before Reading

During Reading

After Reading

During Reading

Reading Questions & Paired Texts

Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

PART 1, CHAPTERS 1-4

Reading Check

1. What was Noah’s mother’s occupation before she left?

2. What animals are in the drawing Margaret sends to Bird?

3. What book does Bird ask about at the library?

4. What does Bird use to get into the library?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why did Noah start going by “Noah” again?

2. What does PACT outlaw?

3. What happened to Sadie’s parents?

4. Why aren’t there books at Bird’s school?

5. Why was Bird’s father late coming home one evening?

Paired Resource

“For Literary Novelists the Past Is Pressing”

This New York Times essay by Jonathan Lee is about writers who draw on the past in their novels.
Shared themes include The Power of Storytelling and The Dangers of Racism in Society.
How does this essay help us to understand how Ng might be responding to contemporary events in American society?

PART 1, CHAPTERS 5-7

Reading Check

1. What does Bird find in the cupboard where he used to hide?

2. Where does Bird go to find his mother?

3. What does Bird leave with his note for his father?