Home Before Dark [Paperback]

Sue Ellen Bridgers (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2000

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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

No summary can convey the tremendous integrity of a book like Home Before Dark . . . Character and theme have been developed with such painstaking attention that each episode seems inevitable and right. --New York Times

Perceptive, masterful writing. --The Horn Book

About the Author

Sue Ellen Bridgers is the author of seven novels for adults and young adults. She has won the New York Times Outstanding Book of the Year Award, the Christopher Award, and others.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Banks Channel Books (December 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1889199079
• ISBN-13: 978-1889199078
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,490,445 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Heart Warming Story, April 8, 2001

By 

Lisa Di Giorgio (Cincinnati, OH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Home Before Dark (Paperback)

This novel is a heart warming tale about the importance of putting down roots and finding acceptance. Stella has lived the difficult life of a migrant worker but when her family returns to her father's boyhood home, she is anxious to start living a "normal" life. She weathers the anguish of losing her mother through the support of her newly extended family and the friends she has made in her new home town. When her father decides to remarry, she is upset. She does not want to leave the first real home she has had to move into the new house her stepmother is providing. Although it takes Stella some time, she eventually realizes that the most important roots of all do not belong to places but to the people who love you. This book was very well written and highly entertaining.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A gifted writer, May 16, 2003

By 

Anna M. Allred "Teacher and Reader" (Talbott, TN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Home Before Dark (Paperback)

I first discovered this author over 10 years ago in graduate course in Appalachian children's literature. Ms. Bridgers is wonderful. This book captures so many emotions and evokes such realistic images. She truly writes of her region and deserves more praise than she recieves. In fact, I was so engrossed in this work, I wrote my master's thesis on her novels.

This book combines the images of the strong southern family, family secrets, and the tragedies of poverty in a wonderful way

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Home Before Dark, July 26, 2001

By 

Emily (Timberville,VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Home Before Dark (Paperback)

In Home Before Dark, by Sue Ellen Bridgers, the main character Stella, is a fourteen-year-old, is looking for some roots to hold onto. Stella's family has been living out of their battered station wagon. Her family has a very difficult life; they are migrant workers. Stella's father, James Earl, decides to go to his childhood home. Stella and her father are very happy about this, but her mother, Mae, isn't. When they get to the family farm, James Earl tells everyone to stay in the car because his brother, Newton, does not know that James Earl is coming to visit, let alone live with him for a while. Finally Stella has a place she can call home, somewhere she can explore all the exciting things going on in her life, like boys and friends. Stella's excitement turns to confusion when she finds herself between two very different boys, Toby, the farmhand, and Rodney, the awkward rich boy. Meanwhile Stella's mother dies, and Stella takes this hard. After a while, James Earl decides to get married again. Stella does not want to move again, after finally getting some roots established. I thought that this book was great. I really do not like to read that much, but this book really kept my attention This book was very well written and had a great plot. I thought that the story did not seem like much like a real story. I can almost picture Stella going through this time in her life. While I was reading the book, I felt that Stella was my friend, and we were going through this time together. I think that I will read more of Sue Ellen Bridgers's books in the future.