Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands

A teenage girl named Emily Shepard becomes homeless after a catastrophic accident at a nuclear power plant in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom. As the daughter of the plant's lead engineer, she flees the area and creates a new identity to escape scrutiny and blame. Living on the streets of Burlington, Emily survives by scavenging and taking shelter wherever she can find it. She forms an unlikely bond with a nine-year-old runaway and documents her experiences in a notebook, finding solace in the poetry of Emily Dickinson. The narrative follows Emily's journey through a harsh Vermont winter as she grapples with loss, isolation, and the weight of her family name. She must decide whether to keep running or face the reality of what happened at the power plant. The novel explores themes of survival, identity, and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of environmental and personal disaster. Through Emily's perspective, it considers how teenagers process trauma and find meaning in a world that has been suddenly stripped of security.

Readers found the narrator Emily's voice authentic and raw for a homeless teenager dealing with trauma. The nuclear disaster backdrop and Vermont setting created a unique premise that kept readers engaged. Many noted the research on nuclear power plants added credibility. Readers appreciated: - Realistic portrayal of teen homelessness and survival - Emily's literary references to Emily Dickinson - Complex parent-child relationships - Accurate regional details about Vermont Common criticisms: - Nonlinear timeline caused confusion - Some found Emily's voice too sophisticated for her age - Ending felt rushed to several readers - Nuclear disaster details overshadowed character development Ratings: Goodreads: 3.7/5 (13,000+ ratings) Amazon: 4.2/5 (500+ ratings) LibraryThing: 3.8/5 (300+ ratings) "The protagonist's voice rings true - scared but resilient," wrote one Amazon reviewer. A Goodreads review noted: "The scattered timeline mirrors Emily's scattered mental state, but made the story hard to follow."

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🌟 The novel's title comes from instructions given to students after the Newtown school shooting - teachers told children to close their eyes and hold hands as they led them to safety. 📚 Author Chris Bohjalian was inspired to write this story after visiting Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station and contemplating what would happen if there was a catastrophic accident. ⚛️ The book's nuclear meltdown scenario draws parallels to real-world events like Fukushima and Chernobyl, though it's set in Vermont's fictional Cape Abenaki nuclear plant. 🏠 The protagonist Emily's makeshift shelter of trash bags and ice, called an "igloo," is based on real survival techniques used by homeless youth in cold climates. 📝 The author spent considerable time researching homeless teen behaviors and interviewed shelter workers to accurately portray Emily's street experiences, including the practice of "cutting" as a coping mechanism.