Book #62: Home Alone by Todd Strasser

 

Home Alone

Todd Strasser

 Released: January 1st, 1991

My 5th book for 2025 was Todd Strasser's “Home Alone”.

I love Home Alone!  Half my Christmas this year was a treasure trove of Home Alone gear, books, and other things.  It was an absolute blast.  I've been on a bit of a Macaulay Culkin kick lately.  I read "My Girl" which was based on the film he starred in back in August.  I saw the Home Alone movies again over the holidays.  Then I read his book "Junior" earlier this month.  Now this one.  I also have Daniel Stern's book "Home and Alone" on tap as well.

I watch Home Alone every year during the holidays.  Sometime between November 1st, and December 31st, I always watch the first two Home Alone movies.  It's become an annual tradition for me.  Something about the original 2 movies feel like childhood memories.  Especially the first one.  It's a bit strange in a way.  I didn't have 15 people in the house growing up.  I didn't have cousins until I was 8.  We lived in modest houses growing up.  While the house that became my childhood home was on the upper scale for Waynesboro, PA, we were nowhere near the size of the McCallister's house.  Certain things like the Michael Jordan cutout, the Larry Bird action figures, made me think of pickup basketball games with John Fletcher, Ryan Ritchie, and other kids around Gardner Ave growing up.  The music just resonates with my soul.  I sometimes wish I could step through the screen and be at that Christmas Cantata.  The feeling of being a younger person in the early 1990's was a cool experience.  While I won't give up those memories for the world, sometimes I wish I were just slightly older so I could have relished in the pop culture of the time.  Sometimes I also think it's less that I wanted to be in that time frame and more I wanted to be a character from that time period (Kevin/Buzz McCallister, Wayne Campbell, etc.).

I have already read this book, but since I haven't reviewed it for the blog, I decided to reread it and make it an official entry.  It's quick read coming in at 136 pages.  Both times that I have read this book I finished it all in one sitting.

Despite being aimed towards a younger reader audience, the book does provide additional insight to events portrayed in the film.  The novel contains the scene where Uncle Frank tells Kevin that he is not allowed to watch the scary gangster movie (Angels with Filthy Souls).  We also see some scenes that seem to counter the personalities of the Wet Bandits.  Harry says and does some things that are actually said and carried out by Marv in the film.  The novel gives Marv a bit more rationale and leaves Harry looking a bit less intelligent in comparison.  While hinted on in the movie, the novel expands to show just how concerned the siblings were for their missing brother.  This is especially true through the eyes of Megan and Linnie, and to a lesser extent Jeff.

There are also references to pop culture at the time.  Specifically, sports figures such as Michael Jordan and Joe Montana.  It is also explained that Buzz is a big Guns 'n' Roses fan.  He even names his pet tarantula after lead singer Axl Rose.  I'm sure this wasn't shown in the movie due to copyright reasons.

While not mentioned in the book, Peter McCallister reads "Nobody's Angel" while on the flight to Paris.  I read this a few years ago (and seem to have missed blogging about it).  I purposely bought and read it strictly because I saw it in the movie.  It's just neat when the movie is on every year to see him read the book and go "I read that book, because I saw him reading it too."  Fun Fact: Nobody's Angel was written by Thomas McGuane.  John Heard, who played Peter McCallister, was married to Margot Kidder.  After their divorce, she married McGuane.  So it was an interesting choice for him to be seen reading his ex-wife's new husband's book.  Especially since the book was published in 1982, and the film was shot in 1990.

The book does contain a scene that was shot for the movie but deleted as it felt a bit...too far?  Uncle Frank is seen as a bully to Kevin.  He mocks him, calls him names, and treats him like garbage.  The scene in question has Frank ask Kevin what they will call him in France, and when Kevin asks what the name is, Frank pulls down Kevin's pants and yells "Yank".  In the deleted scene from the film, he says "Dick".

Here is what I learned:

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• Different from the film, The McCallisters live in Oak Park, Illinois as opposed to Winnetka.

• Kevin McCallister is 7 years old.

• Kevin has 5 siblings.

• Uncle Frank and his family live in Ohio.

• Marv Murchens and Harry Lyme are the “Wet Bandits”.

• Harry has a gold tooth.

• Kate McCallister is a clothes designer who worked in the fashion industry.

• Kevin is take to Santa’s Village every year to see Santa Claus.

• The McCallisters have a dog named “Ralphy”.

• Jeff McCallister lifts weights.

• Fuller is Kevin’s 5-years-old cousin.

• They are supposed to share the hide-away bed in the attic.

• When Fuller drinks Pepsi, he wets the bed.

• The McCallisters order regularly from Little Nero’s Pizza.

• The pizza order for the family costs $122 (in 1990 dollars).

• Buzz is a Guns ‘n’ Roses fan.

• Cousin Rod is a bit nerdy.

• Buzz’s tarantula is named Axl.

• The book changes the line from “ass” to “arm” presumably because the book is more geared towards children.

• Buzz refers to Old Man Marley, the neighbor, as the “South Bend Shovel Slayer”.

• Uncle Frank pulls down Kevin’s pants as a prank.

• The family is leaving the house at 9am.

• Cheese Pizza is Kevin’s favorite.

• Uncle Frank uses Traveler’s Checks.

• The McCallisters tip well.

• Kate gives Harry $20, believing he is collecting donations for the police department.

• There are 15 people in the house for the trip.

• The family wakes up at 9:12a

• The alarm clock shows 3:17a, suggesting the power came back on at 5:55a.

• Commonwealth Power and Light manages the electricity for the neighborhood.

• Mitch Murphy is a neighborhood kid who lives next door.

• The Murphy’s are going to Orlando, Florida for Christmas.

• Kevin enjoys Road Runner cartoons.

• Kevin likes to eat Eggs, Bacon, and Toast for breakfast.

• The McCallisters are flying to Paris on a 747.

• Kate is a stickler for making sure the trash is taken out.

• The Murphy’s drive a station wagon.

• Harry smokes cigars.

• Sgt Balzak works in the Family Crisis Intervention Dept of the Oak Park Police Department.

• Peter’s brother is Rob McCallister.

• Rob’s job transferred him to Paris, and so he paid for the family to go there for Christmas.

• Rob has an apartment on the Rue de les Fairds.

• Buzz has difficulty with using correct numbers and letters to count.

• According to Buzz, the McCallisters live on the single most boring street in the United States of America, where nothing even remotely dangerous will ever happen.

• The village of Oak Park has an ice skating pond.

• Kevin only uses toothbrushes approved by the American Dental Association.

• Kevin’s toothbrush is red with white and blue bristles.

• The lady who runs the front counter is married to her coworker Herb.

• Marley cut his hand on his snow shovel.

• Kate tries to offer Chicago-bound passengers Ed & Irene: $500, a pocket translator, 2 first-class tickets to Chicago the next week, a Rolex watch, a gold necklace, bracelet, sapphire ring, and Samsonite luggage for their coach-class ticket.

• A real Rolex sweeps instead of ticking.

• The Wet Bandits rob the Benson’s house when Peter calls from Paris.

• Differently from the movie, Kevin orders a six-pack of Pepsi with his cheese pizza.

• Kevin’s total for the pizza comes to $14.80.

• Kevin is a cheap tipper, leaving the delivery driver $0.20.

• Kevin can roughly play “Joy to the World” on the piano.

• Kate spent the night at Orly Airport in Paris.

• She catches a flight to Detroit via Boston on standby.

• Kevin’s grocery bill is $19.83.  He tells the cashier to keep the change on a $20 bill.

• Compared to the movie, the cashier does not question Kevin’s age nor parental whereabouts.

• Different from the movie, Harry, instead of Marv, approaches the house before Kevin scares him away with the gangster video.

• Harry hasn’t had a good Christmas in 20 years.

• A major snowstorm hits the Great Lakes region nearly shutting down Detroit Airport.

• Different from the film, Kevin lives on Rivard Street as opposed to Lincoln Blvd.

• Marley’s granddaughter sings in the church choir.

• “How you feel about your family is a complicated thing.”

• Kate gets snowed in at Detroit Airport as opposed to Scranton.

• Different from the film, Gus Polinski wears a red satin jacket.

• Gus Polinski and the Kenosha Kickers just finished playing a polka festival in Asbury Park, New Jersey.

• They are en route to a Christmas gig in Milwaukee.

• Different from the film, the band is traveling in a station wagon as opposed to a van.

• Different from the film, Axl the tarantula also lands on Harry’s face.

• The band’s record is called “I Don’t Want Her You Can Take Her, She Can’t Stuff the Kielbasa Polka”.

• Peter finds Harry’s missing golden tooth on the floor.

• The book ends on a happy note instead of Buzz screaming at Kevin for destroying his room.

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Overall, a good book that follows the flow of the film reasonably well.  This novelization was targeted more towards younger readers, and as a result, reads much more kid-friendly than the later Home Alone 2: Lost in New York novelization which was targeted to a more general viewing audience.

Recommended for fans of the series, and especially for younger readers.

On to Book #63: "When Pride Still Mattered" by David Maraniss.