Hold Still
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4.7 • 116 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
A YALSA Best Books for Young Adults • A William C. Morris Honor Book
“A beautifully written, gently moving account of a long good-bye that will resonate with anyone who has ever had to let go before they were ready.”—Sara Zarr, National Book Award Finalist and author of Gem & Dixie
“The book is written with honesty, revealing one's pain after the loss of a loved one.”—School Library Journal
Dear Caitlin, there are so many things that I want so badly to tell you but I just can’t.
That night Ingrid told Caitlin, I’ll go wherever you go. But by dawn Ingrid, and her promise, were gone. Ingrid’s suicide immobilizes Caitlin, leaving her unsure of her place in a new life she hardly recognizes. A life without the art, the laughter, the music, and the joy that she shared with her best friend. But Ingrid left something behind. In words and drawings, Ingrid documented a painful farewell in her journal. Journeying through Ingrid’s final days, Caitlin fights back through unspeakable loss to find renewed hope.
Hold Still is the stunning debut that launched Nina LaCour, the award-winning author of We Are Okay. LaCour’s breakthrough novel brings the changing seasons of Caitlin’s first year without Ingrid to the page with indelible emotion and honesty.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
LaCour makes an impressive debut with an emotionally charged young adult novel about friendship and loss. Caitlin begins her junior year in high school bitter and stunned over the recent suicide of her best friend Ingrid, a talented photographer and artist. Afraid to risk new friendships and unable to continue her own artistic endeavors, Caitlin finds herself in a state of paralysis, wrestling with questions that may remain unanswered. Then she discovers Ingrid's journal, a record of her thoughts during her final days, and reasons for her tragic, perhaps inevitable fate begin to come to light. What is most remarkable about LaCour's tale is her ability to make the presence of an absent character so deeply felt. The entries and pictures in Ingrid's journal vibrate with feeling and provide insight into the pain of chronic depression ("the sun stopped shining for me is all. the whole story is: i am sad. i am sad all the time and the sadness is so heavy that I can't get away from it"). Ingrid's secrets are excruciating to discover, but the ample evidence of her creative force makes it clear that her life had meaning. Ages 14 up.
Customer Reviews
get ready
finished it in one night and sobbed the last chapter
Amazing
This book was really good!!! I couldn't put it down and finished it within a few days!
Beautiful... <3
I LOVE this book so much. I picked it out at the library and now I'm making my mom buy it for me. It's amazing. And I feel like I can relate to it. For some reason... It's amazing. I know I said that already but it really is... I recommend it for teen girls! It's beautiful(: