1. How does Granpé Nozial’s story about the man who brings the ice from the city to the mountain explain what happened both when the family came back from Port-au-Prince and when they were leaving for New York?
2. At the end of the story, the family comes together to live in a wonderful new apartment. Do you think this is the end of their struggles in America? Explain what other “mountains” they might find behind the mountains they have just overcome.

Discussion guide written by Katy Stangland.

About the Author

EDWIDGE DANTICAT is the author of many award-winning books, including Untwine, an NAACP Image Awards Outstanding Literary Work; Breath, Eyes, Memory, an Oprah’s Book Club pick; Krik? Krak!, a National Book Award nominee; Brother, I’m Dying, a National Book Critics Circle winner; Huit Jours; Claire of the Sea Light; and many others. She is also a recipient of a MacArthur Genius Grant. Edwidge lives with her family in Miami, Florida.

Look for UNTWINE, a hauntingly beautiful and
mesmerizing story about sisterhood, family, love,
and loss by literary luminary Edwidge Danticat.

“I fell in love with Untwine and the way Danticat brings so many worlds together—family and community and love and death. It is a book I want to give my daughter and my sister and my best friend. It’s about Isabelle and Giselle and it’s about all of us. Danticat is a master.”

—Jacqueline Woodson, National Book Award–winning author of Brown Girl Dreaming