Hope House - Hardcover

by Joe Bond (Author)

A Most Anticipated Book of 2026 by the Chicago Review of Books, Debutiful, the Millions, and the Orange County Register

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

They came from the streets, the sticks and every place in between. They'd stolen cars, dealt dope and hurt people. They'd been hurt themselves. There's AWOL, who won't stop running away. There's Karvel, who runs the place. There's Damico, Smoove, and Peanut. Their futures promise prison or worse, but for now they've been brought together to live in an old home on a hill and see about getting themselves--and each other--right.

Told in chorus through the intersecting lives of a group of teenage boys, Hope House follows its ensemble cast through a five-phase program as they grapple with their pasts and search for the one thing none of them have ever really had: a family.

In his deeply honest and soulful debut, Bond crafts a coming-of-age story that sears with the anger and spirit of abandoned youth. The Nickel Boys meets This Boy's Life, Hope House is a novel about belonging, care, and the desire in all of us to find a home.

Author Biography

Hope House is Joe Bond's first novel. He began working on it after his story "Damico" won The Masters Review Short Story Award. His writing has been published by The Paris Review, People, New South, The New Ohio Review and ESPN. He grew up around group homes in eastern Kentucky and lives now in New Orleans.