Hope House

Recently Longlisted for the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize, Hope House by Joe Bond is told from inside a treatment home for troubled teenagers, where lost boys become more than their pasts and dare to imagine different futures. 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.

Purchase your book from Charis Books & More. When you check-out from that link, please mention that you will need to pick your book up at the event. Books will also be for sale on-site by Charis, and a portion of your purchase will benefit the Decatur Book Festival.

This event is free and open to the public. No tickets are required, and seating is first come, first served. Signing information: Signing time: 12:15 PM

Signing location: Marriott Conference Center

About the Author

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, New Ohio Review, and ESPN. He grew up around group homes in eastern Kentucky and lives now in New Orleans.

About the Moderator

Doug Jones’s debut novel, The Fantasies of Future Things was longlisted for the 2026 VCU Cabell First Novelist Award and the 2025 First Novel Prize. He is an alumnus of Morehouse College and obtained his MFA from Columbia University. Doug has been published in the anthology Black Love Letters, written for Debutiful.com and LitHub.com, and his early work received recognition from the Hurston/Wright Foundation. Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, Doug currently lives in Atlanta.