A Young Boy Struggles To Find His Place In Gabriel Bump’s Debut Novel, “Everywhere You Don’t Belong”

    In Gabriel Bump’s moving debut novel, “Everywhere You Don’t Belong,” a young boy struggles to find his place in the world while growing up on Chicago’s South Side. The story begins with Claude McKay Love’s final, vivid memories of his parents, who leave him to be raised by his grandmother and her long-time friend Paul. As Claude, Grandma and Paul become a family, they lose and gain others along the way – friends, neighbors and lovers – while their neighborhood suffers and recovers from a deadly race riot. In this insightful interview, Bump talks about his own childhood growing up in Chicago, the headlines that inspired Claude’s story, and why he believes America’s painful racial past is never far away.