Home Before Dark

by Sue Ellen Bridgers

In this YA novel chosen as the New York Times Outstanding Book of the Year, a 14-year-old girl has always lived out of a station wagon as her family moves from one picking station to another. Now her father has taken them to the tobacco farm he was raised on, and she needs to learn to put down roots while reaching out for a place of her own.

Genres: Fiction, Young Adult

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

Reviews

[Meagan Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn't a typical coming of age story about a girl. I remember checking this book out from the library over and over and over again as a child. I dare say it's one of my all time favorite books. The main character was real to me in so many ways. I cared deeply about her feelings and often wondered what would have become of her if she truly were real. This young girl lived in a car with her family, never experiencing life in one spot for too long. Then her world changes when her father moves them to his former "home". But like any great story there is conflict. Nothing in life is simple nor is anything simple in this novel. I highly recommend this book to young and old alike. It's a beautifully told story that does not have a stereotypical ending. My only complaint is that the story wasn't longer... I never felt truly fulfilled after reading the story. I have and probably always will long for more from this book. But all in all, it's a wonderful novel that's worth the time it takes to read it.

[Kim Hetherington · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this as a young teen and remember really liking it. I would like to find a copy now and reread it, just to see if it was as good as I remember.

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 1 out of 5]

As an old canine companion of mine used to say, "BLEAH!"

Seriously, this one did absolutely nothing for me.

[Art · Rating 3 out of 5]

"That Land out there belonged to us no matter what anyone said...They truly belonged to me and I belonged to them, like I had known the house and land long before and had somehow forgotten about them for a while."
I felt the same way when I left for the Army and left behind the life on the farm in Minnesota, and tried to connect in Kentucky, however I now have made a connection to My Dad's Seven Acres here in North Dakota.
Theme of growing up and finding roots and belonging to something and somewhere.
Thought of "First boy" "A Day No Pigs Would die" "The Good Earth" and others.

[Heidi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't really enjoy this book at all. It did have a "happy" ending of sorts but really felt like it just happened or thrown in there. It was a strange book. I also borrowed it from my local library and found it in the junior section. I would NOT let my girls read this book. It had too many references to sex and the kids in the book are in middle school/ early high school age. The lead character is only 14. Not a good read and wouldn't recommend it.

[Toni · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book it kept me wanting to know what was going to happen next it was well written. To me Stella and her parents had a really difficult life nothing to call home just living out of her dads station wagon.

[Carmussel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another really great youth fiction book. This was written by the sister of a friend, which caught my interest. But I have since read and greatly enjoyed many of Sue Ellan's books.

[Sally Kruger]

I was asked to read this 1976 release a while ago and just finished it. Although, it is an older book, I believe the story stands the test of time. Set in rural and small town North Carolina, readers are transported to a tobacco farm with a cast of characters who share their joys and tragedies.

Stella is fourteen and traveling with her family back to her father's childhood home. They have been living out of a battered, old station wagon for as long as Stella can remember. Her father has been finding work following the crops while she has been helping her mother take care of her younger siblings. For the first time she is facing a stable life and a real home.

The story involves simple pleasures, a first love, and getting to know a caring aunt and hardworking uncle. Author Sue Ellen Bridgers takes readers into the minds and thoughts of a variety of characters as they interact with Stella. Challenges are met, hearts are broken, and memories are made as Stella learns the true meaning of home and family. Overall, I'm glad I had a chance to read this one and will definitely share it with others.

[Sanjay Varma · Rating 3 out of 5]

A prodigal son returns home. A young girl matures into a teenager.

I haven’t read a juvenile fiction book like this in a long time. It’s an anonymous book for me; my life would be the same whether I read it or not, and my lack of expectations allowed the book to work its magic.

The characters have a little extra something, they throw themselves fully into their roles, embrace their fate until an opportunity to change falls into their lap.

There is a deus ex machina plot. James Earls' wife, Mae, is a terrified, useless person who has forced them all to keep moving the family around in the station wagon, picking crops, never staying anywhere long enough to put down roots. Her insecurities prevent her husband and daughter from leading happy lives. When Mae is suddenly electrocuted by lightning, James Earl meets another woman who lives in town. They marry, live in a house, and put down roots. The daughter, Stella, has a more difficult journey. She “puts down roots” more literally by isolating herself in their ancestral property, in a way that banishes from her psyche all traces of her mother’s fears.

This is a very simple book, but Stella’s growth is handled with subtlety.

[Craig Schlossin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short story that is interesting. I did not love it and did not hate it. Worth a read for some.