Alabama Moon

• Genre: Fiction; middle grade action/adventure
• Originally Published: 2006
• Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 720L; grades 6-9
• Structure/Length: 51 chapters; approx. 304 pages; approx. 8 hours, 36 minutes on audio
• Protagonist and Central Conflict: Raised by his survivalist father in the remote Alabama woods, 10-year-old Moon Blake is used to hunting and sheltering with a minimum of supplies. When Moon’s father dies, however, authorities discover Moon’s isolated existence and send him to a boys’ home—from which Moon promptly escapes, welcoming the other boys to flee with him.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Death of parents; death of a friend (a child); physical and emotional abuse; profanity; mentions of mental health struggles; alcoholism

Watt Key, Author

• Bio: Born in Point Clear, Alabama, in 1970; one of seven siblings; credits parents, his grandfather, and favorite books for inspiring his childhood; attended Birmingham-Southern College; began an early career in computer programming as he worked on novels to get published; earned positive critical acclaim with the publication of his first novel (Alabama Moon)
• Other Works: Dirt Road Home (2010); Fourmile (2012); Hideout (2017); Deep Water (2018)
• Awards: Parents’ Choice old Award (2006); EB White Read-Aloud Award (2007); ALA Best Books for Yong Adults (2008) listed on Time Magazine’s 100 Best Books of All Time (2015)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit: