After having vividly remembered reading Celeste Ng's previous novels, I was eager for her third, Our Missing Hearts. If possible, I would have preferred to not put the book down before it was finished ! The story line was mesmerizing as it switched between present and past, reminding me of the dystopian qualities of Emily St. John Mandel's Station Eleven. Our Missing Hearts' tell-tale resonance brought to mind the ideas: Poetry is a life force; folktales preserve the past's wisdoms; society unlearns lessons & then must go to extremes to stop repeating the past's dysfunctions; art as protest; and written and spoken words matter because of their potential power for both good and evil. I was touched by the example of the efficacy of libraries in the communities' resilience and librarians as a vital source of protection for literature's and children's survival. Our memories can be the engines to drive change; our creative genomes can endure. Ng's voice is both an essential warning and paean to the protection of all our freedoms lest they disappear.