Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands

A Novel

By: Chris Bohjalian

Narrated by: Grace Experience

A heartbreaking, wildly inventive, and moving novel narrated by a teenage runaway, from the bestselling author of Midwives and The Sandcastle Girls.

Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands is the story of Emily Shepard, a homeless teen living in an igloo made of ice and trash bags filled with frozen leaves. Half a year earlier, a nuclear plant in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom had experienced a cataclysmic meltdown, and both of Emily's parents were killed. Devastatingly, her father was in charge of the plant, and the meltdown may have been his fault. Was he drunk when it happened? Thousands of people are forced to flee their homes in the Kingdom; rivers and forests are destroyed; and Emily feels certain that as the daughter of the most hated man in America, she is in danger. So instead of following the social workers and her classmates after the meltdown, Emily takes off on her own for Burlington, where she survives by stealing, sleeping on the floor of a drug dealer's apartment, and inventing a new identity for herself -- an identity inspired by her favorite poet, Emily Dickinson. When Emily befriends a young homeless boy named Cameron, she protects him with a ferocity she didn't know she had. But she still can't outrun her past, can't escape her grief, can't hide forever—and so she comes up with the only plan that she can.

A story of loss, adventure, and the search for friendship in the wake of catastrophe, Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands is one of Chris Bohjalian’s finest novels to date—breathtaking, wise, and utterly transporting.

Man writes as teenage girl.

How can an "older" man write like a teenage girl? Chris Bohjalian did a fantastic job of doing just that. I picked out this book because I have read many other books by Chris Bohjalian and have liked every one of them. This one was quite different from his other books and I wasn't sure I would like it in the beginning when it was in the voice of a teenage girl, with teen language. The character development was superb and heart-wrenching. Interesting that Bohjalian's daughter is the narrator for this audio-book.

Captivating and beautiful

Chris Bohjahlian never disappoints with his novels and this one is no different. This one has left me with a book hangover worrying about the main character ever since it ended.

An page turner in the first degree!

What did you love best about Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands?

The character who narrates the novel, Emily, is funny and ironic and quirky. I wish more young people were this unique and insightful.

What did you like best about this story?

Emily Shepard and her take on her favorite poet Emily Dickenson. .And I love disaster scenarios.

Which character – as performed by Grace Blewer – was your favorite?

Emily Shepard!

Who was the most memorable character of Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands and why?

Emily will stay with me a long, long time.

Loved It So Much, Read It Twice

I loved everything about this book. The writing is wonderful, and the narrator is perfect for this story. The story was horrifying in so many ways, but it was full of love and hope and humor. The narrator can sing, too! I laughed out loud when she sang an Emily Dickinson poem to the Gilligan's Island theme tune. Chris and Grace, you must be very proud of each other!

It was alright

Some of it was interesting but I didn’t getting captured by the story. I kept waiting for it to take off and it didn’t. Also the narration was not compelling.