Home After Dark
Written and illustrated by
David Small
David Small
Published by Liveright
on September 11, 2018
Genre: Graphic Novel, Young Adult, Realistic Fiction
Length: 416 pages
Alex Award (2019)
Synopsis:
Thirteen-year-old Russell Pruitt, abandoned by his mother, follows his father to sun-splashed California in search of a dream. Suddenly forced to fend for himself, Russell struggles to survive in Marshfield, a dilapidated town haunted by a sadistic animal killer and a ring of malicious boys who bully Russell for being "queer". Rescued from his booze-swilling father by Wen and Jian Mah, a Chinese immigrant couple who long for a child, Russell betrays their generosity by running away with their restaurant's proceeds.
My Thoughts:
Russell Pruitt's life changes forever when his parents get divorced and his mom takes off with his dad's best friend. He and his dad pack up and leave for California but they discover that the 'dream' they were hoping to find there was just that; a dream. They end up in a little dead-end town where they rent a room from a Chinese couple that run a restaurant.
Russell struggles to fit in with the local boys but he gets stuck in a vicious cycle of bullying and being bullied. When his alcoholic father disappears without paying the bills, Russell is forced to fend for himself and learns a few important life lessons in the process.
This graphic novel is a unique coming-of-age realistic fiction that explores and touches on sexuality, homophobia, bullying, divorce, abandonment, addiction, suicide, animal cruelty, and more.
The black and white illustrations are simple and sketchy but the author/illustrator did an amazing job of creating a 400+ page story from them. I liked that most of the book was wordless with only added bits of dialogue or history here and there but I could still discern the deeper emotions of the character.
A quick but impactful read that will appeal to young adults and adults alike, but probably more so for young men.
Russell struggles to fit in with the local boys but he gets stuck in a vicious cycle of bullying and being bullied. When his alcoholic father disappears without paying the bills, Russell is forced to fend for himself and learns a few important life lessons in the process.
This graphic novel is a unique coming-of-age realistic fiction that explores and touches on sexuality, homophobia, bullying, divorce, abandonment, addiction, suicide, animal cruelty, and more.
The black and white illustrations are simple and sketchy but the author/illustrator did an amazing job of creating a 400+ page story from them. I liked that most of the book was wordless with only added bits of dialogue or history here and there but I could still discern the deeper emotions of the character.
A quick but impactful read that will appeal to young adults and adults alike, but probably more so for young men.
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