Sadie Character Analysis in Our Missing Hearts

Sadie is a 13-year-old girl of mixed Black and white race. She is Bird’s only friend. When she was 11, Family Services removed Sadie from her parents’ custody because her mother, Erika’s, journalistic investigations into other child removals constituted a violation of PACT. Sadie has strong opinions and is confrontational. When Bird meets her in sixth grade, she has already been with two foster families, having earned a reputation as a troublemaker. Sadie views her mother as a hero for standing up against PACT, and she introduces Bird to Margaret’s role in the resistance. With the help of Carina, the Cambridge librarian, Sadie runs away from her foster family to find her parents, but her search turns up cold. Through Sadie, the novel illustrates the very real impact of prioritizing patriotism above free speech in this imagined world. Additionally, Sadie’s insistence on finding her parents calls into question the motives of the authorities who separated them, and it suggests that the forced removal of children is harmful as opposed to protective.

Sadie Character Timeline in Our Missing Hearts

The timeline below shows where the character Sadie appears in Our Missing Hearts. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Bird remembers his friend Sadie asking about Margaret. In fifth grade, he and Sadie bonded over their motherlessness. Sadie claimed... (full context)

Privilege, Silence, and Complicity Theme Icon

...lunatic, since he had always been taught that PACT kept people safe. When he met Sadie, who had been taken from her parents because they opposed PACT, she tried to get... (full context)

The Power of Art and Imagination Theme Icon

After their fight, Sadie presented Bird with a newspaper article she had found at the library. The paper attributed... (full context)

At school, Bird eats alone. He used to eat with Sadie, though Ethan warned him not to spend too much time with her. Today, Bird asks... (full context)

...this stunt and whether Margaret was involved. He realizes the dolls represent re-placed children, like Sadie. (full context)

Sadie had been frustrated with Bird’s naivety, asserting that PACT re-placed many more children than he... (full context)

Sadie was taken from her parents at night. She heard men enter her house and her... (full context)

Even when Sadie’s removal from her parents was made permanent, she never cried. Last year, she suggested that... (full context)

...of the word “library,” linking it back to trees and the layered histories inside them. Sadie called the library a castle and visited it every day. Bird is the only person... (full context)

...of the only other time he has been in trouble, when he stood by as Sadie used a Sharpie to deface PACT public-safety posters reminding everyone to watch over one another... (full context)

...mother would be happy just to know he is well. Bird realizes Carina also knew Sadie, but she tells Bird she doesn’t know where Sadie has gone. Though she can’t help... (full context)

...found a re-placed child who ran away from her foster family in Cambridge. Margaret meets Sadie, who recognizes her and tells her she knows Bird. Sadie explains that after running away... (full context)

In the present, Bird asks about Sadie. Margaret says he can see her soon, but she needed this time with him first.... (full context)

...the brownstone. Before he leaves, he hugs Margaret, wishing her good luck with her plan. Sadie is in the car waiting for him. They drive an hour and a half out... (full context)

Alone together, Bird and Sadie explore the rich interior of the cabin. Sadie recounts her time living with Domi, how... (full context)

Bird and Sadie explore the small lake on the property. They spend the afternoon playing like normal children,... (full context)

Painstakingly, Bird and Sadie build a fire in the fireplace. They use old newspapers they find in the cabin,... (full context)

At the cabin, Bird and Sadie awake. They eat breakfast, feeling excited anticipation at how Margaret’s plan is changing their world.... (full context)

...nearly empty prescription bottle, a book of crosswords—paint a picture of a life on hold. Sadie and Bird begin to understand what it was like for Domi’s family during the Crisis,... (full context)

The next morning, Bird and Sadie wake and resume their waiting. Before long, Domi’s car pulls up to the cabin, but... (full context)