Watt Key

This is one of several reviews I wrote for the late lamented Secular Homeschooling Magazine. We ran an article about homeschoolers in fiction, and I rated a lot of YA novels based on how good they were and how well they handled homeschooling. Mostly, homeschoolers were hauled out as the reliable weirdos in story after story; but it was still fun to do so much reading and call it my job.

So: Alabama Moon, by Watt Key

Category: Creepy backwoods illegal homeschooling

Summary: Occasional trips into show more town for supplies are the only times Moon gets to see anyone other than his father, or glimpse the world outside their tiny hidden home. Just before he dies, Moon's father advises Moon to leave Alabama and go to Alaska to seek others of their kind – people who know how to live off the land and refuse to have any relationship with the government. The fact that Moon is only ten when his father dies doesn't stop him from trying to follow this injunction. Fortunately, he doesn't succeed, though the reader becomes increasingly sympathetic with his wish to. Instead, Moon ends up in a warm, safe home with a loving family, and learns the difficult lesson that you can love and honor someone and still not agree with him – even if he's your father.

Conclusion: The "Little House" books will seem kind of creepy for about a week after you finish reading this.

Rating as a novel about homeschooling and/or homeschoolers: It's true that Watt Key is writing about one very unusual child in one very unusual situation. If you're a homeschooler, good luck explaining that to friends and relatives who read this book and panic about your decision to teach your own kids.

Rating as a novel: A brilliant, beautiful book with subtle characterization and a terrifically clever court scene that ties up all loose ends. Ideals of love, redemption, friendship and forgiveness permeate the story. show less

What a good book this is! It may be Middle Grade (with a little coming-of-age mixed in), but I sat up late to finish it, not wanting to put it down. And yes, it’s kind of like a movie on The Lifetime Channel, but who can resist those?!

Twelve-year-old Foster lives with his widowed mom Linda on Fourmile Farm in Alabama, some three hours south of Montgomery. His dad died the year before in a traumatic accident, and his mom has started seeing a man – Dax – who raises the hackles of both show more Foster and his dog Joe.

Foster becomes increasingly alienated, but that all changes when Gary Conway, a former Iraqi Special Forces soldier, hikes by their farm and offers to stay on a while to help fix it up. Foster bonds with Gary and his dog Kabo, and knows that Gary (unlike Dax) would never hurt him. At the same time, however, he picks up on an unease in Gary, “like a coiled spring,” that frightens him.

Dax doesn’t like Linda having a potential rival like Gary on the property, and tries to force Linda to make a choice. The results change all of them forever.

Discussion: The set-up in the first chapter is excellent: there is tension, mystery, a hidden tragedy, and a loving mother and son struggling to make it on their own. It pulls you right in and doesn’t stop there. And what a pleasure to find that the 12-year-old narrator is not omniscient: he doesn’t always “get” what is happening among the very authentically drawn adults, nor for that matter, do we readers, since we only know what we glean from Foster’s perspective. I love that!

As for the ending, it is so fabulously realistic that, although I always hope for a fairy tale finish, I can’t help but admire the author and love the book for the last chapter, and especially, the last paragraph.

Note: Fans of the Patrick Ness’s A Monster Calls will appreciate the echoes of that fable in Foster’s efforts to come to terms with his own monster after the death of his dad.

Evaluation: A Middle Grade book that will appeal to all ages. If you see this one, I recommend not passing it up! show less

I found this treasure at our local library.... where a signed copy had been donated by the writer, as he's a local. The synopsis instantly interested me. Being an Alabama native means that I'm intimately familiar with everything found in these pages... hurricanes, swamps, boats, gators, bears, snakes, deer, etc..... which makes the terror all the more real!!

This is a tale of survival..... a page turner..... I simply couldn't put it down.... I read it in one go!!

I will definitely be show more purchasing my own copy of this book... as well as others by Watt Key!! show less

Alabama Moon follows ten-year-old Moon Blake, whose survivalist father dies unexpectedly, sending him into institutional life—something he’s avoided his whole life. Using forest skills learned in childhood, Moon escapes to the wilderness with new friends and unexpected enemies. As he adapts to a world he’s never known, he forms unlikely bonds and imagines a future beyond rules and restraint. This emotionally resonant middle-grade novel balances rugged adventure with quiet reflection, show more offering a powerful portrait of identity, loss, and growing up. At Lexile 720 L and ATOS 4.1 (AR 11 points), it’s both accessible and compelling for readers ages 10–14. show less