Lost Boys

Lost Boys (1992) is a horror novel by American author Orson Scott Card. The premise of the novel revolves around the daily lives of a Mormon family, and the challenges they face after a move to North Carolina. The story primarily follows the family's troubles at work, church, and the oldest child Stevie's difficulty fitting in at school, which lead to him becoming increasingly withdrawn. Dealing with themes such as religion and the nature of good and evil, the novel is an expansion of Card's short story "Lost Boys". The plot of the short story is similar to the plot of the novel but Card assumes the role of the protagonist, Fletcher, leading the story to appear autobiographical. After receiving criticism for the story being "offensive" and appropriating the grief of losing a child, Card put a disclaimer at the end of the short story and wrote the novel in the third-person. The novel received praise for its "easy and natural prose" and its genuine and uplifting themes. Eugene England criticized the novel for its theology and the manner in which it deals with "religious, theological, and moral issues", stating that Card is at his best when he writes science fiction; however, he admitted that Card is a good storyteller. The novel won the 1992 Association of Mormon Letters Award for Best Novel. Plot summary The novel, set in 1983, revolves around Step Fletcher, a game programmer, who invented a fictional Atari computer game called Hacker Snack, and his family. Step, a devout Mormon, moves his pregnant wife DeAnne and their three children, including seven-year-old Stevie, from Indiana to Steuben, North Carolina, so he can start a new job as a technical writer. In addition to struggles at his new job with unpleasant and immoral bosses and coworkers, the Fletchers' new house is periodically invaded by hordes of different types of insects. Bappy, the elderly father of the owner of the rented house, is always ready to lend a hand with things. Step quits his job right before DeAnne gives birth to a baby with special needs. After the move, Step's son Stevie becomes withdrawn, playing only with his imaginary friends in the garden and on his computer. They take him to a psychiatrist, who speculates that the family's religion could be causing Stevie's problems, offending Step. Step and DeAnne notice that the names of Stevie's imaginary friends are the same as the names of young boys who are disappearing.