Waiting on Wednesday (29)

Hold Still by Nina LaCour

An arresting story about starting over after a friend’s suicide, from a breakthrough new voice in YA fiction.

dear caitlin, there are so many things that i want so badly to tell you but i just can’t.

Devastating, hopeful, hopeless, playful . . . in words and illustrations, Ingrid left behind a painful farewell in her journal for Caitlin. Now Caitlin is left alone, by loss and by choice, struggling to find renewed hope in the wake of her best friend’s suicide. With the help of family and newfound friends, Caitlin will encounter first love, broaden her horizons, and start to realize that true friendship didn’t die with Ingrid. And the journal which once seemed only to chronicle Ingrid’s descent into depression, becomes the tool by which Caitlin once again reaches out to all those who loved Ingrid—and Caitlin herself. [summary from Goodreads]

Boy, I seem to often be choosing the heavy, hard-hitting, realistic fiction stuff for my Waiting on Wednesday posts! But really, this one has captured my attention ever since I first heard of it earlier in the summer. I have to say that I first fell in love with the haunting cover, but the synopsis seems like it could be reminiscent of some great YA reads, like Looking for Alaska by John Green and Undone by Brooke Taylor.

Hold Still will be published in hardcover by Dutton Juvenile on October 15, 2009.