Dirt Road Home
DETAILS: Publisher: Winding Road Stories Publication Date: April 15, 2022 Format: eARC Length: 268 pgs. Read Date: June 1-2, 2022
What’s Dirt Road Home About?
After a succession of horrible boyfriends (abusive, addicts, etc.) over the years, Rose Davis started seeing someone online. And things were going pretty well for them—so well, in fact, that Rose and her adolescent sons move from Detroit to a small Tennessee town to be with him.
Her sons, Logan and Dex, aren’t crazy about this move. Logan (who is the protagonist, by the way) is 6 weeks away from high school graduation and turning 18. Dex is a year behind him. They’re Detroit through-and-through, comfortable on the streets there, they live and breathe internal combustion engines, and cannot imagine living anywhere else, but they have no choice*.
* Okay, that part rang a little false for me. He’s close enough to 18, that Logan could’ve stayed behind. He could’ve crashed with some friends—or a series of friends—or something. Child Services isn’t going to swoop in and put someone his age into the system. But suspend disbelief for it and it’s fine.
On their first night in town, Logan and Dex get into a tussle with a couple of local high school football stars, and instead of simply being the new kids in school, they’re those guys. They’re trouble. The fight video is online, putting a giant target on their back.
Logan’s ability with cars helps him find a niche, a way to fit in. He and Dex take part in some street racing and find some friends—or at least people who aren’t instinctually antagonistic toward them.
More importantly, Logan meets Leah there. She’s a stunning, confident, and charming young woman in his class who will turn his life upside down. Maybe life in the South won’t be that bad after, all.
Greg McCarter
The MVP of this book has got to be Rose’s new boyfriend, the one they move to Tennessee to be with. With only one major character flaw (which, granted, is debatable and a minor spoiler, so that’s all you get), he’s about to perfect as you’re going to get. And sure, those characters are unrealistic, but every now and then, coming across one is fine.
He’s exactly the kind of guy that Rose needs to be with (even if, like Logan, the reader doesn’t understand her appeal to him). He’s absolutely the right kind of adult make for Logan and Dex to have in their lives. You can’t help but wonder how things would’ve turned out for all four of them had they moved to Tennessee a year or two earlier.
Still, he’s the kind of guy that would improve almost any novel—if Nader had put him as the central character of a book, he’d be just as appealing—maybe more so. I know my appreciation for this novel went up a notch or two when he was in a scene.
A Problem that Only I’m Going to Have
Back in April, Pay Dirt Road was published, and about that time Winding Road Stories reached out to me about Dirt Road Home. I cannot tell you how often I’ve conflated the two titles since then. They couldn’t be more different in any way, but those titles? I have been and am forever going to refer to them both as Pay Dirt Road Home.
So, what did I think about Dirt Road Home?
This is tagged as a coming-of-age story. And technically it is, sure. But I’d want to call it something else. It’s a coming-home story, which is tricky because Logan’s really never had one. But that’s what separates this from so many coming-of-age stories, it’s about more than Logan maturing—it’s about the atmosphere that gets him there.
My only complaint with this book is that everything happens too quickly. I’m not saying it’s too fast-paced, I’m just saying that if Logan had been 3 months away from graduation instead of 6 weeks, and that the events that happened between the fight their first night and the Event That Changes Everything right before the dénouement had taken more weeks, I’d have bought everything a little easier.
I bought it all in the moment, although there was a voice in the back of my head saying, “Slow down and think about things, kid.” The problem for me came when I put the book down and thought about it. I’m not saying what happens to—and within—Logan and the rest couldn’t happen like that, I just could have accepted and liked it more. Also, I wanted to see the relationships between Logan and those new to his life more—I really liked Greg and Leah’s parents, in particular, and more scenes with them would’ve improved this already good novel.
Tossing that aside—this is a fun story. It’s sweet, it’s hopeful, and it’s heartfelt. It’s a giant departure from the rest of Nader’s work (judging by the 120 seconds I spent researching him). It’s reminiscent of James Bailey‘s YA novels and Headphones and Heartaches. I need to read things like this from time to time—things that focus on growth, improvement, and contentment/happiness. That’s what this book’s premise promises and that’s what it delivered.
Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Winding Road in exchange for this post, the opinions expressed are my own.
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