hanging on to my dreams is an inspiring autobiography that follows the first 23 years of arnold henry a west indian basketball player who overcomes many hurdles and disappointments on the road to fulfilling his american hoop dreams the story starts with a portrayal of arnolds caribbean childhood in a difficult household where sports provided a dream and a means of escape after becoming the first basketball player from saint lucia to be awarded a full basketball scholarship as a freshman as the highest level of the national collegiate athletic association in the united states arnold henrys victory lap took a dark turn as he saw more school leagues that he expected after being accused of a crime this stirring narrative also deals with arnolds struggle to integrate into the american culture and sports systems arnold henrys will to succeed and his strength to hang on to his dreams illustrates how we can all attain our goalsno matter what society throws at us