Hold Fast to Dreams

the long version

Since Joshua Steckel began work at a Brooklyn public high school as its first-ever college guidance counselor, every one of the hundreds of graduates he has counseled has been accepted to college, many to top-flight schools with all expenses paid. But getting in is only one small part of the drama of his students' stories. In a riveting work of narrative nonfiction-winner of a Studs and Ida Terkel award-Hold Fast to Dreams follows the lives of ten of Josh's students as they navigate the vast and obstacle-ridden landscape of college in America.