Upward Bound

[A] groundbreaking debut novelist

Publishers Weekly

Upward Bound gives us the world from the perspective of someone rarely noticed or understood . . . Wondrous and distinctly brilliant

RIVKA GALCHEN, author of Everyone Knows Your Mother is a Witch

Woody Brown accomplishes the seemingly impossible; he gives voice to a character with a sensibility both intelligent, ironic and loveable, who cannot himself speak

MONA SIMPSON, author of Anywhere but Here

Implosive and wonderfully inspirational. Upward Bound is acutely aware that be it indigo, autism, social class, or the gamma ray, everything and everyone is on the spectrum

PAUL BEATTY, Booker Prize winner of The Sellout

Upward Bound is a highly original, captivating, brilliantly observed novel about the power of human relationships and the complexities of communication

CAOILINN HUGHES, author of The Wild Laughter

Great characters, great pace, great story – reading Upward Bound is a complicated joy

RODDY DOYLE, Booker Prize winner of Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha

Woody Brown has created a dazzling array of characters so real that I rooted for them, laughed and cried with them, and fell in love. Reading Upward Bound is deeply moving and wholly immersive, an experience that will change the way you look at the world. This novel is a gift, and I want to put it into the hands of every reader I know

ANGIE KIM, New York Times bestselling author of Happiness Falls

Reading Upward Bound reminded me why stories matter. Woody Brown’s writing carries an earned wisdom that remains with us long after the final page

JACQUELINE CROOKS, author of Fire Rush

Highly original and utterly captivating, this heart-warming debut explores the lives that intersect in a daycare centre for Los Angeles’s disabled community with utmost empathy and wit

Waterstones

A luminous, eye-opening novel of human connection and hope that will stay with me for a long time. Woody Brown’s writing is deeply moving, and filled with so much heart

CECILE PIN, author of Wandering Souls

Brown’s compassionate debut delves with great insight into the lives and minds of the disabled residents of an adult day care center in Southern California . . . This captivating work illuminates a world too often ignored

Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Deft, wry, gorgeous and, most importantly, humanist. Upward Bound is one of those novels you want to give to everyone in your life. To help them understand the world a little better, to feel more deeply, to laugh, to know they are part of something greater

AUGUST THOMPSON, author of Anyone's Ghost

Brown – who was the first nonspeaking autistic graduate of UCLA – offers a vanishingly rare glimpse of the interiority of nonverbal autistic adults and a critique of the well-meaning but often misguided able-bodied people in their orbits . . . Full of humor and charm. A debut novel that truly breaks new ground

Kirkus

The residents and staff of an underfunded adult care center in Los Angeles form the core of Brown’s singular debut novel . . . Brown’s sly sense of humor and ability to inhabit, without condescension, the experiences of those often marginalized, including the bumbling but well-intentioned caregivers, make the novel both quietly surprising and gently enlightening

Booklist

A startlingly unique and fresh perspective on the world: we’re lucky to exist inside Brown’s creation, a deeply heartfelt exploration of humanity

LitHub, Books of 2026

Upward Bound is a book that feels as if it was painted by David Hockney. This is a story of friendship, dreams, and rich inner worlds. Woody Brown writes with a levity that cuts to the heart, in a language that brims with light

SEÁN HEWITT, author of Open, Heaven

Awe-inspiring . . . deeply funny and eye-opening. If the highest calling of art is to open the heart to the perspective of others, thereby creating a more compassionate world, Upward Bound is a lodestar. Reading it, I felt energised to be a better person

MARIA SEMPLE, author of Where’d You Go, Bernadette

With wit and empathy, Woody offers a perspective that is profoundly underrepresented in literature . . . [A] tender and important novel

Service95, Books for April

A triumph… funny and moving and ringing with life; a book that embraces the difficulty and contradictions of its subject matter. It’s the garrulous, charming story of a young man who can’t speak, and an inclusive, friendly guide to the overlooked and the isolated

Guardian

Upward Bound is a fascinating insight into the mind of an autistic person and genuinely entertaining… even if you ignore the biographical background, the novel stands proudly on its own. It scrapes back the difficulties of disability — the toileting issues, the strict routines, the boredom and frustration — to find something almost transcendent

The Times

This book will stay with you for weeks… This story, both original and captivating, feels like one that hasn’t been told before. The lives of this group of people will make you smile – and at times weep

Best

[A] revelation that forces you to ask: How much do we overlook in people – how many gifts do we fail to nurture – by making overly hasty judgments?

Frank Bruni, New York Times

A fascinating insight into the mind of an autistic person and genuinely entertaining… Want to know what it’s like to be autistic? Read this novel

The Times

Compassionate, insightful, funny – and at times quietly, righteously angry at the slights and prejudices the community faces. Just beautiful

Marie Claire

[This] clever, humor-filled novel delights and surprises with its interwoven narratives and sophisticated writing

Parade

A moving, illuminating glimpse into a world we rarely have access to

Good Housekeeping

'This vibrant debut novel spotlights a cast of disabled and neurodiverse characters and their caregivers… Woody Brown, a nonverbal author himself, highlights stories that are too often banished to the margins’

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