Hold It 'Til It Hurts — T. Geronimo Johnson

A black veteran of Afghanistan searches for his missing brother in “a rich and passionate” debut novel exploring issues of race, war, and family (Kirkus Reviews, starred review). When Achilles Conroy and his brother Troy return from a tour of duty in Afghanistan, their white mother presents them with the key to their past: envelopes containing details about their respective birth parents. After Troy disappears, Achilles -- always his brother's keeper -- embarks on a harrowing journey in search of Troy, an experience that will change him forever. Heartbreaking, intimate, and at times disturbing, Hold It 'Til It Hurts is a modern-day odyssey through war, adventure, disaster, and love, and explores how people who do not define themselves by race make sense of a world that does.