Content Warning: This section of the guide references antigay violence.

The novel opens in a New Hampshire forest near the Canadian border. Seven-year-old Wen is on vacation with her American parents, Andrew and Eric, who adopted her as a baby from a Chinese orphanage. The three are staying in a remote cabin.

Outside the cabin, Wen wades in a lagoon and tries to catch grasshoppers. She intends to keep the insects in a jar to study them and has made air holes in the jar lid. A tall, heavily built stranger approaches, wearing jeans and a bright white dress shirt. He introduces himself as Leonard. His demeanor is warm and gentle, and he quickly befriends Wen. Although wary of strangers, she instinctively trusts Leonard. He helps her catch seven grasshoppers, and she gives them names. Wen is self-conscious about her faint facial scar. When Leonard asks about it, she explains that she was born with a cleft palate and had many surgeries to correct it. She also reveals that Andrew has a scar from a childhood baseball accident.

During the conversation, Leonard frequently checks the trail behind them. Wen starts to feel uncomfortable and emphasizes that her two fathers are nearby in the cabin.