Dirt Road Home

June 21, 2010
This gritty sequel to Key's Alabama Moon tells what happens to Moon's friend Hal after their escape from the Pinson Boys' Home. The book begins with 14-year-old Hal being sent to the Hellenweiler Boys' Home in Tuscaloosa, a "high-security jailhouse to lock down eighty bad boys." Desperate to return to his father and to reunite with his girlfriend, Hal vows to "play it cool." It's hard to avoid trouble, however, when guards do nothing to prevent fights and two warring gangs pressure Hal to choose a side. As he becomes aware of underlying corruption in the system, preventing any chance for release, Hal has to decide between using brute force or his wits to survive. Readers will feel Hal's fear and temptation to give up, but unlike the boys' home itself, the novel is not without hope, and Hal hatches a plan to make the institutional corruption known. With authentic characters and a candid first-person narrative, Key's story offers a disturbing appraisal of life in a juvenile facility, and a riveting battle for justice. Ages 10–14.

June 15, 2010

Although a companion to Alabama Moon (2006) in that it continues the story of one of that book's main characters, this survival tale is by no means dependent on its predecessor. Hal Mitchell finds himself locked up in a juvenile facility and is told he needs to choose which gang to join. It's the Death Row Ministers or the Hell Hounds, but Hal is determined to avoid both and keep his nose clean until Mr. Wellington, his lawyer, can spring him. As events unfold, the nature of the system becomes clear, as are the impossible odds stacked against him. Hal's grit and determination provide him with some unexpected allies as well as enemies. Suspenseful and harrowing, the narrative underplays the bodily pain Hal endures but not his emotional and psychological wounds. A gripping tale of a 14-year-old caught in a justice system that is not about justice at all, Key's sophomore outing will be satisfying to his early admirers even as he plows new territory by focusing on a completely different battle. (Fiction. 12 & up)

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November 1, 2010

Gr 5-8-A companion to the award-winning Alabama Moon (Farrar, 2006), this novel stands on its own. The book opens with lots of action, as 14-year-old Hal is led in chains to the Hellenweiler Boys' Home, a lockdown facility in Tuscaloosa where he is to serve out his sentence. He and his father have an agreement: Daddy is going to stop drinking and Hal is going to keep a clean slate while incarcerated. However, the teen soon discovers that this is almost impossible; he is immediately pressured to "claim" for one of two gangs, with both choices guaranteed to bring him trouble. Hal chooses the unthinkable-to join neither. The tension, positioning, threats, and shifting alliances among the boys are believable and will hook readers. The teen's focus on his relationship with his father, as well as a new girlfriend, add moments of hope. The corruption of the supervising adults is also credible, and Hal's idea to reveal it creates a page-turning experience. Unfortunately, the staff's downfall is a little too easily accomplished and rings false, especially after all the gritty realism that comes before it. A happy ending with Daddy, Hal, and Caboose (another loner from the facility) neatly wraps up the story, putting this book squarely in the camp for younger readers with a tougher edge.-Amy Cheney, Alameda County Library, Oakland, CA

Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

forenna - 'Dirt Road Home' is about a bot named Hal, who goes to a boys' home called "Hellenweiler". Hal and his father had made a deal to each other: Hal stays out of trouble, as long as Mr. Mitchell, Hal's dad, stops drinking alcohol. When Hal enters Hellenweiler, he realizes his deal isn't as easy as he thought it seems. He makes an acquaintance, and his name is Leroy. A few weeks into Hellenweiler, and he finds out a little more about the place. There are two "gangs": The Hounds and the Ministers. Deep into the book, he learns about a lot of Hellenweiler and the people in it. The genre of this book is coming of age, and this book is just absolutely amazing! Hal learns a lot about other boys, and himself, to find the true meaning of bravery. He had learn how to fight for himself, without fighting. What will he do? How ill he survive? Read the book to find out!

June 1, 2010
Grades 7-10 Keys second novel follows Hal Mitchell, reform-school buddy of the hero of Alabama Moon (2006). Hal is in the Hellenweiler Boys Home, where the state sends the hard cases to live until they turn 18. If he can stay out of trouble, and his dad can stop drinking, the two can be reunited, but its immediately clear that Hals end of the bargain is going to be tough to keep. The kids in Hellenweiler are evenly divided between two gridlocked gangs that altercate violently and often. Neither side is willing to let Hal keep his nose clean, which only distracts him from seeing the true villains in the mix. Its a standard setup for a lockup tale, and Hals efforts to contain his rage and navigate brawls keep the atmosphere tense and pacing fleet. Most interesting is the unusual triangle he forms with a silent, massive loner and a philosophical Mexican gang leader. The ending is a little too neat for credibility, but for comeuppance it doesnt get much more satisfying.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)