Road HomeNorton Young Readers, 2024. 264 pages.
Review written June 26, 2024, from an Advance Reader Copy sent by the publisher.
Starred Review
Rex Ogle began telling about what it was like growing up in poverty in the book Free Lunch. He continued, telling what it was like to grow up while getting hit by his mother and stepdad in Punching Bag. He moved in with his father. Then, in Road Home, he tells about living on the streets after his Dad found out he was gay and kicked him out.
It's not an easy story to read. It's good to know, right from the start, that he survived the experience and went on to become a successful writer.
You do get pulled into his plight. How can you get a home without a job? And how can you get a job without clean clothes and a shower and a phone and a home address?
At first, Rex moves in with an older guy who gave him his phone number. But eventually, he's on the streets and learns tricks to finding food and a place to sleep.
As always, this book completely pulls you into Rex's shoes, so it's a gut-wrenching story. I'm so glad I knew from the start that the story has a happy outcome and he did not in fact turn out like his father told him he would -- dying alone with AIDS. All the same, no one should have to live through what he did. I hope that telling his story will help others who come after him. As he says in the Author's Note at the front, "No matter how dark the past, or even the present, the sun will always come up tomorrow."