Read with Jenna Pick - Upward Bound by Woody Brown

RUN do not walk to your local bookstore this Tuesday 3/31 when Upward Bound by Woody Brown comes out! This is a MUST read!

This one was recommended to me by @mommaleighellensbooknook who is a book buyer at @fabledbookshop She found out about this book last fall at a convention and knew it was a special one I should read. The author, Woody Brown, is a non-verbal autistic man, and a graduate from UCLA with top honors in English, and a MFA at Columbia. Wow! I was able to pair it with a gifted listening copy from @prhaudio and went this route because I can never say no to a multi-cast audio!


I’m raising a child with autism (who actually turns 18 today!) and while he is verbal, so much of this book resonated with me. But this isn’t about me…onto the book review…

First and foremost, I believe this book shows readers what it is like to be constantly underestimated and misunderstood. It’s an intimate look at disabilities, particularly ones that are profound.

Each chapter feels almost like a short story, or maybe a series of vignettes. I thought this style was not only incredibly creative, but worked well for the story and content.

It’s full of empathy, is witty, and deeply insightful; I can’t recommend this book enough and I’m eager to read whatever Woody writes next!

⬇️ BOOK SUMMARY ⬇️

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.