Upward Bound: A Read with Jenna Pick (A Novel)
List Price:
$28.00
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Product Details
Author:
Woody Brown
Format:
Hardcover
Pages:
208
Publisher:
Random House Publishing Group (March 31, 2026)
Imprint:
Hogarth
Language:
English
Audience:
General/trade
ISBN-13:
9780593979976
ISBN-10:
0593979974
Weight:
12.6oz
Dimensions:
5.98" x 8.61" x 0.87"
File:
RandomHouse-PRH_Book_Company_PRH_PRT_Onix_delta_active_D20260427T224408_156034597-20260427.xml
Folder:
RandomHouse
List Price:
$28.00
Country of Origin:
United States
Pub Discount:
65
Case Pack:
12
As low as:
$21.56
Publisher Identifier:
P-RH
Discount Code:
A
QuickShip:
Yes
Overview
A wondrous, deeply affecting portrait of the interlocking lives at an adult day care center in Southern California, depicting an often overlooked community with extraordinary wit and grace—by a major new literary voice hailed as a “groundbreaking debut novelist” (Publishers Weekly)
“[A] singular debut novel.”—The New York Times
“Implosive and wonderfully inspirational.”—Paul Beatty
“Great characters, great pace, great story—reading Upward Bound is a complicated joy.”—Roddy Doyle
“It will change the way you look at the world.”—Angie Kim
“Woody Brown accomplishes the seemingly impossible.”—Mona Simpson
“This captivating work illuminates a world too often ignored.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
A Most Anticipated Book: The New York Times, Time, Harper’s Bazaar, Alta Journal, Publishers Weekly, Literary Hub, Publishers Lunch
Upward Bound is not a place anyone dreams of spending their days. The dreary adult daycare center for Los Angeles’s disabled community is, for many of its clients and staff, a place of last resort. This includes Carlos, a young aide who lost his mother as a boy and now works there alongside his beloved sister, Mariana; Jorge, the gentle nonspeaking giant whom Carlos seeks to befriend (and prevent from escaping); Tom, a beautiful young man with cerebral palsy who pines for Ann, the summer lifeguard at the center’s pool who feels out of her depth. Then there’s Dave, Upward Bound’s director, who came to L.A. to pursue an acting career but now channels his passion into staging an overly ambitious holiday show starring the center’s irrepressible clients. Framing these intertwined narratives—and connecting them in surprising, shattering ways—is the riveting and sometimes ironic testimony of Walter, a recent community college graduate who, after a family tragedy, must return to the company of his disabled peers.
In Upward Bound, Woody Brown has created an indelible, authentic, and profoundly moving group portrait of autism and other disabilities, all illuminated by his empathy, sly sense of humor, and enormous gifts as a novelist. With remarkable sophistication, insight, and creativity, Brown depicts a community too-often invisible in literature and society. Filled with characters you won’t soon forget, Upward Bound will inspire and touch you, teaching you as much about yourself as the tender, miraculous world behind the center’s doors.
“[A] singular debut novel.”—The New York Times
“Implosive and wonderfully inspirational.”—Paul Beatty
“Great characters, great pace, great story—reading Upward Bound is a complicated joy.”—Roddy Doyle
“It will change the way you look at the world.”—Angie Kim
“Woody Brown accomplishes the seemingly impossible.”—Mona Simpson
“This captivating work illuminates a world too often ignored.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
A Most Anticipated Book: The New York Times, Time, Harper’s Bazaar, Alta Journal, Publishers Weekly, Literary Hub, Publishers Lunch
Upward Bound is not a place anyone dreams of spending their days. The dreary adult daycare center for Los Angeles’s disabled community is, for many of its clients and staff, a place of last resort. This includes Carlos, a young aide who lost his mother as a boy and now works there alongside his beloved sister, Mariana; Jorge, the gentle nonspeaking giant whom Carlos seeks to befriend (and prevent from escaping); Tom, a beautiful young man with cerebral palsy who pines for Ann, the summer lifeguard at the center’s pool who feels out of her depth. Then there’s Dave, Upward Bound’s director, who came to L.A. to pursue an acting career but now channels his passion into staging an overly ambitious holiday show starring the center’s irrepressible clients. Framing these intertwined narratives—and connecting them in surprising, shattering ways—is the riveting and sometimes ironic testimony of Walter, a recent community college graduate who, after a family tragedy, must return to the company of his disabled peers.
In Upward Bound, Woody Brown has created an indelible, authentic, and profoundly moving group portrait of autism and other disabilities, all illuminated by his empathy, sly sense of humor, and enormous gifts as a novelist. With remarkable sophistication, insight, and creativity, Brown depicts a community too-often invisible in literature and society. Filled with characters you won’t soon forget, Upward Bound will inspire and touch you, teaching you as much about yourself as the tender, miraculous world behind the center’s doors.








