Name: Home After Dark
ISBN: 9781631496271

David Small

Thirteen-year-old Russell Pruitt, abandoned by his mother, follows his father to dilapidated 1950s Marshfield, California where he is forced to fend for himself against a ring of malicious bullies.

A Novel

Home After Dark

Wildly kaleidoscopic and furiously cinematic, Home After Dark is a literary tour-de-force that renders the brutality of adolescence in the so-called nostalgic 1950s, evoking such classics as The Lord of the Flies. 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. Told almost entirely through thousands of spliced images, once again "employ[ing] angled shots and silent montages worthy of Alfred Hitchcock" (Washington Post, on Stitches), Home After Dark becomes a new form of literature in this shocking graphic interpretation of cinema verité.

Lynette Pedersen

Dark story, lovely illustrations, lots of unanswered questions.

Lyric Hooey

** spoiler alert **
           3.5⭐️

So, so sad. Artwork is great, plot line is gripping, but I just wanted a little more. Maybe more about Russel being accepted and living with the May’s? Or maybe about forgiving himself about Warren’s death? I can’t quite place it. It’s still a good read, just be prepared for a bleak story.

Kath Lau

Set in '50s, Home After Dark tells the story of a thirteen-year-old boy named Russell. His parents get divorced so his father decided to move to California with him to start all over again. Russell struggles to survive and fit in especially when his drunken father suddenly disappeared and left him alone. Luckily, their landlords, a generous Chinese immigrant couple, took him in. I personally admired the illustrations. The style is superb. There's very few dialogue in this book which was totally okay for me because the drawings tell the story itself. It can be hard and painful to read sometimes because this book is dark and brutal. I would have liked it more if maybe some (not all) of the major issues were resolved or properly addressed. Animal cruelty, suicide, bullying, homophobia, and racism are some of the sensitive subjects included in this book. Home After Dark is a reminder that we learn from our mistakes and how our actions, decisions and behavior can affect the people around us both in good and bad ways.

Nora 

Hazel

Katie Day

"From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the acclaimed graphic memoir Stitches comes a stunning graphic novel of one boy's heartbreaking coming of age in 1950s America. David Small's long-awaited follow-up evokes Lord of the Flies in its savage portrayal of male adolescence gone awry. Kaleidoscopic and cinematic, Home After Dark is both a visual and narrative tour de force that renders the brutality of adolescence in the so-called nostalgic 1950s like no other recent American work. After his mother abandons the family, fourteen-year-old Russell Pruitt follows his alcholic father to sun-splashed California in search of the American Dream. But Russell struggles to find his place in small town Marshfield, where he is bullied for being "queer" and falls into a tentative friendship with another outsider. After a series of unexpected events forces Russell to grow up fast, he has to confront his own frailities and cruelties, especially after his refusal to take action results in tragedy. A gritty, unsentimental, and unforgettable immersion in the life of a boy struggling to forge his own path to manhood."--

Home After Dark A Novel

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