“Thought-provoking, heart-wrenching . . . I was so invested in the future of this mother and son, and I cant wait to hear what you think of this deeply suspenseful story!Reese Witherspoon (Reeses 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. Hismother Margaret, a Chinese American poet, left without a trace when he was nine years old. He doesnt know what happened to heronly that herbooks have been bannedand 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 f