Cover of the book 'Hope House' by Joe Bond

“A beautiful novel of such tender frankness, building the lives of a group of kids with bottomless care and a fiercely keen eye for detail and movement.” —Aimee Bender, author of The Butterfly Lampshade

Set in 1980s Kentucky, Hope House is told from inside a treatment home for troubled teenagers, where lost boys become more than their pasts and dare to imagine different futures.

There’s AWOL, who won’t stop running away. There’s Smoove, who's been shot in his feet. There’s Damico, Karvel, Peanut, and Tonyboy Malopelli. Their futures promise prison or worse, but for now they’ve been brought together to see about getting themselves—and each other—right.

Hope House follows its ensemble cast through a five-phase program as the boys search for the one thing none of them have ever really had: a family.

A deeply honest and soulful debut, Hope House is a coming-of-age story that sears with the anger and spirit of abandoned youth.

“A stunningly beautiful debut, a novel of life on the margins, written with style and grace, and populated with characters that stay with you long after the final page. —Tom Newlands, author of Only Here, Only Now