Hold Love Strong A Novel [Paperback]

Born to a thirteen-year-old in the bathroom of his family’s small apartment, Abraham Singleton enters a world laden with the obstacles inherent in an impoverished urban community. But when his mother becomes addicted to crack and his uncle—the family’s basketball prodigy and their potential ticket out of poverty—is arrested and convicted, the last glimmer of hope is extinguished. Then a college scholarship offers Abraham a way out, but what of those he will leave behind? Tossed into tumultuous times, Abraham and his family struggle to overcome their grim environment and the crushing weight of the past. .

In the vein of Richard Wright’sNative Son, this novel is a wake-up call to America “told exceptionally well in the lyrical first person voice of a sensitive and perceptive youth” (Booklist). A spellbinding coming-of-age novel about love, hope, and the will to survive,Hold Love Strongis a revealing look inside the nation’s crumbling housing projects, and a universal story about the incredible capacity of the human spirit..This reading group guide includes an introduction, discussion questions, ideas for enhancing your book club, and a Q&A with author Matthew Aaron Goodman. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion. We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book.


Questions for Discussion

1. What is the significance of the title,Hold Love Strong?  What scene in the book does it originate from?  What do you think its meaning is in the context of the book’s message?
2. Abraham claims that “in Ever, we were three things: broken, desperate to leave, or soldiers in a war so impossible to win that everything we did, even blinking our eyes, even licking our lips, might be suicide”.&nbl£)