Shelf Awareness (starred review)
"Detailed dialogue and short, punchy sentences are captivating and effortlessly convey Ogle's bleak experience. Throughout, Ogle vividly recounts his desperation and bouts with suicidal ideation while also highlighting shreds of hope… Ultimately, Road Home is a story of queer survival and reclamation of self."
School Library Journal
★ 06/01/2024
Gr 10 Up—Readers have been on a personal journey with Ogle since the publication of Free Lunch in 2019. In what's billed as the final book of his literary memoir look back, this may be the rawest due to Ogle's experiences after being kicked out of his dad's house and being unhoused when a toxic relationship with an older man implodes. Ogle's dad gives him an ultimatum: leave or stay, but if he stays, he must be and act straight not gay. Ogle chooses to leave, heading to New Orleans and a man he met on a beach. But this unhealthy relationship doesn't last, and Ogle is on the street struggling to eat, find shelter, and figure out a path forward without calling his grandmother. Ogle has never shied away from the truth, while remaining positive in each memoir he's written. This work is no different; however, the situations Ogle finds himself in are far more dire, including a relationship with a much older man, drinking, and situational danger because he is unsheltered and hungry. These vulnerabilities push the comfort level of readers, yet those that have read his previous books have likely grown from hearing him speak his truth. Ogle includes an author's note at the beginning as well as an afterword with more of his indispensable optimism and resources. Memoirs like this one keep good company with others like Laurie Halse Anderson's Shout, Maia Kobabe's Gender Queer, and George M. Johnson's All Boys Aren't Blue. VERDICT An emotionally resonant denouement; Ogle gives readers his hardest and most hopeful book yet.—Alicia Abdul
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2024-04-05
Award-winning author Ogle shares the story of being kicked out by his father for being gay and his subsequent experience with homelessness in this conclusion to his memoir trilogy.
In a chance encounter at a hotel in Pensacola, Florida, during a family beach vacation in the late 1990s, 17-year-old Rex meets the charming Russell. He leaves with his first kiss and Russell’s number. Sometime later, Rex’s father issues an ultimatum: Rex can remain at home if he agrees to go to therapy (and pay for it himself), attend church weekly, date a girl chosen by his dad, and avoid any “person of homosexual persuasion.” Refusing to live a lie, Rex packs his things into his truck and leaves Alabama. Certain that he can’t return to his abusive mother and stepfather in Texas and terrified of facing his highly religious abuela, he heads to New Orleans, where Russell lives. There he finds momentary stability and can begin searching for a job and preparing for college. A relationship forms between Rex and the 31-year-old Russell, but as Rex struggles to find work, the power imbalance between them comes to a violent head. Soon, Rex is living on the streets, where he experiences numerous traumas and ultimately questions what it means to survive. Ogle’s story, relayed in short, fast-paced chapters, is deeply personal and affecting, and readers will be anxious to learn how this period of his life ended.
Raw and vulnerable; a necessary look at the realities of homelessness. (author’s note, afterword) (Memoir. 14-adult)
