QUICK REVIEW: Upward Bound by Woody Brown

 

Synopsis

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.

Format 208 pages, Hardcover
Published March 31, 2026 by Hogarth
ISBN 9780593979976 (ISBN10: 0593979974)

My Thoughts

The story unfolds through the first-person perspectives of both patients and workers at an adult day care center — a world that doesn't often find its way into fiction, and one that turns out to be quietly rich with humanity.

What makes it work is the angle. Rather than observing these characters from the outside, you're dropped directly into their inner lives — their small victories, their frustrations, their moments of unexpected connection. It feels fresh in a literary landscape where the same settings and storylines seem to recycle endlessly.

That said, don't go in expecting a page-turner. Upward Bound is not a story that grabs you by the collar. It's more of a gentle companion — the kind of listen you settle into rather than race through. As an audiobook it worked particularly well for that reason, fitting naturally into quieter moments of the day.

My final word: Upward Bound took me by surprise with its setting and approach. It won't be the most thrilling thing you listen to this year, but it's a genuinely pleasant diversion with more substance than you might expect. Sometimes that's exactly what you need.

My Rating:

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The Cerebral Girl is a middle-aged blogger just digging her way out from under a mountain of books in the deep south of Florida.

REVIEW: Wait for Me by Amy Jo Burns

 

Synopsis

From the author of Mercury and Shiner comes a novel about the bond between two female folk singers, the love stories that haunt them, and the music that brings them together to burn bright.

Young folk singer Elle Harlow reaches the height of her prowess in 1973, with two wildly beloved albums to her name and a hidden history of impossible heartbreak. When she sets foot on the famed Grand Ole Opry stage, a far cry from the mountain that raised her, Elle gives the biggest performance of her life. Then, to the dismay of shocked fans, her producer, and the man who still loves her, she vanishes.

Almost two decades later, eighteen-year-old Marijohn Shaw is spending her summer pumping gas, writing songs on her broken mandolin, and longing for a mother. Her father, Abe, has always sworn he was the last person to see Elle Harlow alive, but when a meteor strikes the woods of their sleepy Pennsylvania town and a piece of Elle’s past emerges from the wreckage, the truth of her disappearance sets fire to everything Marijohn believes about herself, her music, and her ability to love with abandon.

Wait for Me exalts the lush hills of Appalachia and the bright lights of Nashville as it reveals the legacy of Elle Harlow, the bold voice that defined her, the intimate betrayal that undid her, and the unexpected faith of another young woman determined to resurrect her.

Format 336 pages, Hardcover
Published March 3, 2026 by Celadon Books
ISBN 9781250399304 (ISBN10: 1250399300)

About the Author

Amy Jo’s new novel, Wait for Me, is the Today Show Read With Jenna pick for March 2026. She is the author of three other books, including Cinderland, Shiner, and Mercury, which was a Barnes & Noble Book Club Pick, a People Magazine Book of the Week, and an Editor’s Choice selection in The New York Times. A western Pennsylvania native, she lives in New Jersey with her family.

You can find her on Instagram at @burnsamyjo.

Find her website at Amy Jo Burns

My Thoughts

Wait for Me by Amy Jo Burns is a little dreamy and strange, but mostly enjoyable. 

"People passed through her like water through a sieve"

Elle Harlow is a woman forged by hardship. Raised by a father who grieved the healthy son he never had, she became the next best thing — hunting, providing, holding the family together when he left for war, and tending to a sickly brother with the hands of a healer. 

But Elle's truest language was music, and it was through bluegrass and the music of her small mountain community where she said what she couldn't otherwise.

Wait for Me winds through the decades, tracing the arc of a woman who briefly captured the attention of the music industry before vanishing just as suddenly as she appeared. Decades later, her story becomes entangled with that of Mary John — an aspiring musician and songwriter living motherless in the world.

Burns offers up a unique storyline that has an almost magical quality to it — moments that feel suspended just slightly outside of ordinary reality, as if the characters exist in a world where the rules are just a bit more elastic than our own. This dreamlike atmosphere is one of the book's strongest assets, and it carries you through the slower stretches with a kind of gentle momentum.

That said, the plot does occasionally veer into territory that strains credibility. There are a handful of moments that require a fairly generous suspension of disbelief — situations that felt too convenient or too far-fetched, even by the novel's own internal logic. It doesn't derail the experience entirely, but it does make it difficult to fully lose yourself in the story at times.

If you're listening to the audiobook — and honestly, that might be the best way to experience this one — you're in for a treat on the production front. The narrators do a commendable job bringing the characters to life, finding distinct voices that make it easy to track who's who. What really sets this audiobook apart, though, is the inclusion of actual musical snippets: songs written and performed by the characters are woven right into the listening experience. It's a really nice touch that adds texture to the story and makes the music feel real rather than imagined. It's the kind of detail that elevates the format beyond simply "someone reading a book aloud."

Five words: dreamlike, wistful, unique, incredulous, gentle

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My final word: Overall, Wait for Me is a pleasant and mostly satisfying read — or listen. It won't necessarily blow your mind, but it's a worthwhile journey if you're in the mood for something with a bit of magic, a unique premise, and the willingness to go along for the ride even when things get a little hard to believe.

My Rating:

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The Cerebral Girl is a middle-aged blogger just digging her way out from under a mountain of books in the deep south of Florida.