Four friends decide to run away from the horror of their everyday lives in a children's home in the English countryside.

They head for the woods, their sense of freedom surprises them, and for the first time they feel the exhilaration of adolescence.

Yet the forest slowly asserts its own power and what happens there will affect the four boys' lives forever. With his trademark humour, compelling narrative directness, and rhythmic prose, Alex Wheatle here shows himself to be an author of real calibre, exposing the social stigma associated with children's homes, and the psychological consequences of their impact on sensitive children.

Never losing pace or failing to engage the reader at every moment, 'Home Boys' is an unflinchingly honest depiction of childhood.