{"product_id":"9780394534329","title":"The Middle Heart","description":"\u003cp\u003eIt is the summer of 1932, the year the Japanese conquered Manchuria, China's northeast region. Three children meet and become best friends for the summer, and blood brothers for a lifetime. They are: Steel Hope, the second son of the House of Li, a once-great clan which survives now on handouts from his grandfather, a merchant who trafficks whith the Japanese; Steel Hope's \"bookmate,\" Mountain Pine, Steel Hope's servant and conscience; and the irrepressible Firecrackers, daughter of the Li's gravekeeper, who masquerades as a boy to take the place of a brother killed years earlier by the Japanese. At the end of the summer a tragic event — a good deed gone awry — splits them apart until they are grown. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDuring the subsequent years of war and cultural upheaval, the destinies of the three friends are realized — their loyalty to each other tested by the demands of politics and patriotism, and by the question of where honor and obligation lie when confronted by love.  \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47011289366768,"sku":"9780394534329","price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780394534329_p0.gif?v=1763697618","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780394534329","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}