Introduction

A heartbreaking, wildly inventive, and moving novel narrated by a teenage runaway, from the bestselling author of Midwives and The Sandcastle Girls.

Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands is the story of Emily Shepard, a homeless teen living in an igloo made of ice and trash bags filled with frozen leaves. Half a year earlier, a nuclear plant in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom had experienced a cataclysmic meltdown, and both of Emily's parents were killed. Devastatingly, her father was in charge of the plant, and the meltdown may have been his fault. Was he drunk when it happened? Thousands of people are forced to flee their homes in the Kingdom; rivers and forests are destroyed; and Emily feels certain that as the daughter of the most hated man in America, she is in danger. So instead of following the social workers and her classmates after the meltdown, Emily takes off on her own for Burlington, where she survives by stealing, sleeping on the floor of a drug dealer's apartment, and inventing a new identity for herself -- an identity inspired by her favorite poet, Emily Dickinson. When Emily befriends a young homeless boy named Cameron, she protects him with a ferocity she didn't know she had. But she still can't outrun her past, can't escape her grief, can't hide forever—and so she comes up with the only plan that she can. 

A story of loss, adventure, and the search for friendship in the wake of catastrophe, Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands is one of Chris Bohjalian’s finest novels to date—breathtaking, wise, and utterly transporting.

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Excerpt

PROLOGUE

I built an igloo against the cold out of black plastic trash bags filled with wet leaves. It wasn’t perfect. The winds were coming across the lake, and the outside wall that faced the water was flat—not like the igloos I had seen on TV somewhere or I guess in a book. It looked like the wall on the inside of a cave: flat and kind of scaly. But the outside wall that faced the city looked round like a melon. I couldn’t stand all the way up inside it, but in the middle I could crouch like a hunchback. It was big enough for three people to lie down if you curled up, and one night we had to squeeze in four. But most of the time it was just Cameron and me. I really had to trust the fuck out of someone before I would let them anywhere near Cameron in the night. But, the truth is, people came and went. You know how it is. Especially in the winter. But the igloo kept me warm. Warmer, anyway. I mean, it’s not like I got frostbite. I knew kids and grown-ups who did. I knew one kid who got gangrene. They say the doctors had to cut off both of his feet, but I don’t know that for a fact because I never saw him again. ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

1. Discuss the landscape of the Northeast Kingdom, where Emily’s earliest memories were formed. How is she transformed by the destruction of the natural world and the extremes of her urban surroundings?

2. As Emily faces the loss of everyone she has depended on throughout her life, what are her greatest sources of reassurance? If you had to face a similar situation, where would you turn for support and solace? Whom would you miss the most?

3. Emily divides her memories into two categories: before and after Cameron. As she befriends him, what makes her a skilled protector? What does she believe about good parenting (and good caregiving for her dog, Maggie)? Was she a good daughter?

4. From Chalk River, Ontario (1952 and 1958) to Fukushima, Japan (2011), nuclear power plant accidents raise important questions about the risks versus the renewable clean-energy rewards of nuclear energy. How did the novel affect your stance on the issue? Would you support the construction of a new reactor in your state?

5. Discuss the lines of Emily Dickinson’s poetry that echo throughout the novel. How does her perception of life, and the absence of life, shape Emily Shepard’s view of the world? What do both Emilys believe about the nature of suffering?

6. As you read the rumors about Emily’s parents, how did you react? Ultimately, whose fault was the accident? Was it wrong for Emily’s mother to work as an industry spokesperson?

7. Discuss the many creature comforts Emily misses from her land of the Haves. Was their community a compassionate one, or were they blind to the Have Nots?

8. Emily depends on Poacher for shelter, food, and drugs. Through him, what does she discover about the independence she craves? Why does she trust him more than she trusts the authorities?

9. Before the failure at the power plant, what was at the root of Emily’s angst? Were you able to understand why, after the accident, she obtains relief and release through her X-Acto knife?

10. How does Emily have to redefine family? What did the novel help you discover about homeless youth and their world?

11. As Emily forms friendships with Andrea, Camille, and Patrice, what do they teach her about her power and her vulnerabilities as a woman? How do their lessons compare to what her mother taught her?

12. Why does Emily become determined to return to the Exclusion Zone? By the novel’s end, does she see herself as a survivor or as someone who has a tentative relationship with life?

13. How does Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands enhance your experience of Chris Bohjalian’s previous novels? What is unique about his approach to human perseverance?

About the Author
Chris Bohjalian is the author of sixteen previous books, including the New York Times bestsellers The Light in the Ruins, The Sandcastle Girls, The Night Strangers, Secrets of Eden, Skeletons at the Feast, The Double Bind, Before You Know Kindness, The Law of Similars, and Midwives. He won the New England Book Award in 2002, and his novel Midwives was a selection of Oprah's Book Club. His work has been translated into over 25 languages, and three have become movies (“Secrets of Eden,” “Midwives” and “Past the Bleachers”). A graduate of Amherst College, Bohjalian lives in Vermont with his wife and daughter. Visit him at www.chrisbohjalian.com or on Facebook.

Guide written by Amy Clements

Weblinks

»	Author Chris Bohjalian's web site with Call-in Info
»	Publisher's Book Info
»	Book Video Preview

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