Alabama Moon

cta65 - The author of Alabama Moon is Watt Key. Alabama Moon is about a boy and his Pap living "off the grid" an Alabama forest. He is hiding from the government which is trying to find them. Pap has always told Moon that the government is horrible but Moon doesn't understand why his Pap says that. When Pap dies and Moon is left to make his own decisions of what is right and what is wrong. This is a very well written book. I liked this book because I've always thought about what it would be like to live off the grid and with no civilization. Also I had a hard time putting this book down because there were so many things that would leave you wondering, what's going to happen next. This book is realistic fiction. There are a lot of people like Moon and his Pap today who live off the grid and hate the government. I would recommend this book to a middle school student. The type of reader that would enjoy this would probably be someone to enjoy action and someone who is a naturalist. In the story an example of an internal conflict is when Moon is in the woods with Kit. Kit becomes sick because he didn't take his medicine. Moon is kicking himself because he realizes that he should've brought Kit's medicine into the woods with them. Moon thought that everything that anyone would need could be found in the woods but, with Kit's medicine Moon realizes that this is not true. An external conflict throughout the book is man V. man. This is apparent when Moon faces Constable Sanders. Sanders hates Moon a lot and does everything he can to hurt Moon and get him back into a boys home or jail.

October 2, 2006
First-time author Key's absorbing survival tale features a 10-year-old hermit, who feels more at home among forest creatures than people. Raised in a primitive shelter deep in the Alabama woods, Moon Blake knows only two people: Pap, a Vietnam veteran holding a grudge against the government, and Mr. Abroscotto, the storekeeper in Gainsville who buys their vegetables and sells them provisions. After Pap dies, Moon fully intends to carry out his father's wishes by finding his way to Alaska, a place where "no one would find him" and "people could still make a living off trapping." But the authorities want to make Moon a ward of the state. During a harrowing cat-and-mouse game against mean-spirited Constable Sanders, Moon gets a taste of society, and he even makes friends during his brief stint at a boys' home, where he carries out an escape plan and brings two boys back to the forest with him. Over time, however, Moon begins to question his father's lifestyle and beliefs, especially when his friend Kit takes ill and is in need of medical attention. Besides offering adventure, the book provides a detailed account of lessons Moon's father has taught him on being self-sufficient. If Moon emerges as too sociable and articulate a character for someone who has grown up in an isolated environment, he remains likable; readers will admire his ability to outwit authority figures. Ages 10-up.