Alabama Moon is Watt Key’s debut novel. Key’s success comes from a great story that tells of a young boy raised “off the grid” with his Vietnam Vet father in the woods. Moon, 10 years old, finds himself in an entirely different world when his father passes away. The land on which they lived is sold and Moon has a new home at the local boys home.
Moon doesn’t react very well to conventional living environment, and he begins making plans to get back to the woods. Along the way, Moon hides out, gets in a car chase, and attempts to live off the land again. Moon does, however, learn about friendships along the way. Key’s deftly written characters lead to a face paced story that is hard to put down. Highly recommended for any intermediate reader or any adult reader who enjoys authors like Ron Rash.
Also, the book has been made into a movie starring John Goodman (release date unknown): Alabama Moon