Home Before Dark

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

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.

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.