Play Book Tag discussion

The author has created a world where people have been affected by a crisis. A declining economy was part of this and the country looked for who is to blame. Bird is a 12 year old boy whose mother's poems have become associated with a movement that is questioning the government's rights to remove children from their homes. As tensions escalate his mother, Margaret, has left him with his father and Bird has not seen her in years.

Bird sees what is happening around him and and tries to look for his mother. She has left him clues that take him to New York City where they meet. The author explains what Margaret has been doing in her time away and how it has changed her.

The environment that Ng has described is fictional, but it shows prejudice and injustices that do happen in society. She has created characters that take risks and are fearful of what will happen if they do not.