Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. ONLINEĭecatur Daily Online, (July 30, 2006), Dawn McNutt, review of Alabama Moon.Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.Įvery four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. School Library Journal, September, 2006, Nancy P. Publishers Weekly, October 2, 2006, review of Alabama Moon, p. New York Times Book Review, February 11, 2007, Tanya Lee Stone, review of Alabama Moon. Kliatt, September, 2006, Myrna Marler, review of Alabama Moon, p. Kirkus Reviews, August 15, 2006, review of Alabama Moon, p. Horn Book, October-November, 2006, Vicky Smith, review of Alabama Moon, p. 52.Ĭhildren's Bookwatch, December, 2006, review of Alabama Moon. Reeder, writing in School Library Journal, considered the novel to be 'well written with a flowing style, plenty of dialogue, and lots of action,' and Horn Book critic Vicky Smith termed it a 'winningly fresh and sympathetic look at a life and culture almost never seen in children's books.' Tanya Lee Stone, writing in the New York Times Book Review, concluded that Alabama Moon is an 'unusual coming-of-age story' with a 'rich cast of supporting characters.' Biographical and Critical Sources PERIODICALSīooklist, November 1, 2006, John Green, review of Alabama Moon, p. Booklist contributor John Green calling Alabama Moon an 'excellent novel of survival and adventure.' Green went on to comment that the work is 'perfectly paced, and Moon's narration is thoroughly believable.' Nancy P. Key's debut novel won praise from reviewers. When his best friend, Kit, falls ill and Moon's herbal remedies cannot cure him, the young boy begins to question his dead father's wisdom.

Recruiting a few of these kids, he escapes from the home to return to the woods. However, when he is taken to a boy's home for foster care, Moon makes his first friends. Distrustful of the government, Moon wants to travel to Alaska, where his father told him people could still live off the land. Having been taught by his father how to survive in the woods, Moon lives alone. The ten-year-old protagonist, Moon, is the son of a survivalist who died while running from the government.

Watt Key's first novel, Alabama Moon, was influenced by his own experiences growing up hunting and fishing in the woodlands of Alabama.

AddressesĪlabama Moon (young-adult novel) Farrar Straus & Giroux ( New York, NY), 2006. Education: Birmingham-Southern College, B.A. Born 1970, in Point Clear, AL married wife's name Katie.

Alabama moon by watt key