My Hands Came Away Red, by Lisa McKay
Meeting Date
Saturday, 15 March 2008
1000a at Jen's House
(e-mail for directions/carpool info)
Brunch will be served!
About the Book
(from the back cover)
Thinking largely of escaping a complicated love life and having fun on the beach, eighteen-year-old Cori signs up for a ten-week trip to help build a church on a remote island in Indonesia.
Six weeks into the trip, a conflict that has been simmering for years flames to deadly life on the nearby island of Ambon. Before they can leave, Cori and her teammates find themselves caught up in the destructive wave of violence washing over the Christian and Muslim villages in the area. Within days the church they helped build is a smoldering pile of ashes, its pastor and many of the villagers are dead, and the six teenagers are forced to flee into the hazardous refuge of the mountains with only the pastor's son to guide them.
As the team hikes through the jungle, Cori's search for spiritual answers and emotional stability proves just as difficult as the physical journey home.
Discussion Questions
From ReadingGroupChoices.com:
1. To what extent do the characters of this book remind you of yourself or someone you know?
2. What scene(s) did you find had the most emotional impact? Why?
3. Did any part of the story make you uncomfortable or angry? If so, why?
4. What themes and/or questions stood out to you as you read this book? How did different characters in the story interact with these themes?
5. How do the various characters react to the massacre in Mani's village and the events that followed? Did you learn anything about the experience of trauma through their stories? Which character did you identify with most?
6. Marooned in the jungle, what was Cori thinking and feeling as she read Psalm 55 (pages 117-119)? Have you experienced events in your life that could have prompted similar questions and feelings? How did you react in those times? How do you address such questions in your own life, now?
7. How did Cori react after returning home? Why might she have reacted like that? Were you surprised by any of her reactions? How were they similar or different to experiences you or others have had after returning from spending time overseas?
8. How have the various characters changed by the end of the novel? What changes were "positive/negative"? Why?
9. Has reading this book prompted you to reconsider some of your views or investigate further some of the issues raised (e.g. faith-based or sectarian conflicts, post-traumatic stress)?
10. The title of this novel was taken from a line on page 95. Do you think "my hands came away red" is a good title for the book? Why or why not? What are some of the images and meanings the title evokes?
11. Where did you see laughter, joy, and hope in this story? Where did the characters find them? When things seem darkest in your own life where do you tend to find those things?
12. Throughout the novel, the characters frequently make up their own stories about a boy named Jip and his pet monkey, Kiki. What did Jip and Kiki come to mean to the characters in the story? What role(s) did they play as a literary device?
13. What can you do to better understand people who have a different faith or worldview?
2. What scene(s) did you find had the most emotional impact? Why?
3. Did any part of the story make you uncomfortable or angry? If so, why?
4. What themes and/or questions stood out to you as you read this book? How did different characters in the story interact with these themes?
5. How do the various characters react to the massacre in Mani's village and the events that followed? Did you learn anything about the experience of trauma through their stories? Which character did you identify with most?
6. Marooned in the jungle, what was Cori thinking and feeling as she read Psalm 55 (pages 117-119)? Have you experienced events in your life that could have prompted similar questions and feelings? How did you react in those times? How do you address such questions in your own life, now?
7. How did Cori react after returning home? Why might she have reacted like that? Were you surprised by any of her reactions? How were they similar or different to experiences you or others have had after returning from spending time overseas?
8. How have the various characters changed by the end of the novel? What changes were "positive/negative"? Why?
9. Has reading this book prompted you to reconsider some of your views or investigate further some of the issues raised (e.g. faith-based or sectarian conflicts, post-traumatic stress)?
10. The title of this novel was taken from a line on page 95. Do you think "my hands came away red" is a good title for the book? Why or why not? What are some of the images and meanings the title evokes?
11. Where did you see laughter, joy, and hope in this story? Where did the characters find them? When things seem darkest in your own life where do you tend to find those things?
12. Throughout the novel, the characters frequently make up their own stories about a boy named Jip and his pet monkey, Kiki. What did Jip and Kiki come to mean to the characters in the story? What role(s) did they play as a literary device?
13. What can you do to better understand people who have a different faith or worldview?
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