Monday, October 02, 2006

Alabama Moon by Watt Key

This book tells a story about a ten-year-old boy, who throughout his journey through the forests of Alabama learns the true meaning of friendship. Moon Blake knows how to find just about anything in the forest. He and his father, a Vietnam War veteran who dislikes the government, had been hiding in a forest in Alabama for as long as Moon can remember. His mother died young, and she was buried not far from their little hidden shelter in the woods. But when the land they are living in was sold to a big-city lawyer, things started to go wrong. Pap died because he won't let Moon get any help from the outside world when he got a leg infection, and he was buried next to Moon’s mother. Before Pap died, he told Moon to head to Alaska, where there are other people who hate the government. But he was caught by Mr. Wellington, the lawyer who owns the land, and was turned in to a boy’s home. Moon soon escaped with his new friends, and made their way back to the forest; planning to head to Alaska together. Mr. Gene from the boy’s home contacted an insane constable who would do anything to track down the boys. But Moon soon find himself very lonely when one of his friends went to live with his father and his best friend got sick and had to go to the hospital. Throughout this book, Moon learns more and more about the world around him, and just when Mr. Wellington found his long forgotten uncle who agreed to adopt him, his best friend got really sick and later died. Moon was overwhelmed with grief, but soon got over it. Finally, his uncle, who was just like Pap, came and adopted Moon and brought him to Mobile, Alabama to live with his family. Moon never got lonely again.

When I first began reading ALABAMA MOON, I had no idea what to expect. I had to force myself to keep reading during the first couple of pages because there were so many things to establish. But when I got to the middle of the story, the excitement began… The plot was very interesting, and I can tell that the author spent a lot of time doing research and applying that to his well-written story. Overall, I believe that ALABAMA MOON is a book worth reading because it not only tells an interesting story, but also explains to us what friendship is all about.

Content:Even though the character in the story is only 10, I suggest that the readers should be 12 and up when reading this because of some profanity.

Rating (0 - 10 scale): 8
Reviewer Age: 13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Urbana, Illinois United States of America