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Key, Watt
5 Reviews
(3)
4-6
After moving to a new town, twelve-year-old Sam is beaten mercilessly by bullies. Humiliated, he finds refuge exploring Mississippi's Pascagoula River bayous. When he encounters a strange boy hiding in an abandoned camp, Sam decides to show his own bravery and help--a decision that becomes dangerous and complicated. In a plot containing much drama and many threads, Key nicely depicts survival in the wild.
Reviewer: Betty Carter
(4)
4-6
Informed by Key's extensive personal experiences of hurricanes on the Gulf Coast, this action-packed survival story pits two young teens and a younger sister against the awesome storm--plus the alligators, wild hogs, bears, and snakes also seeking shelter and high ground. Add in life-threatening hypothermia and injuries, and the suspense is unrelenting. The plot is negligible, but readers won't care.
Reviewer: Miriam Lang Budin
(2)
YA
A gun-toting stranger, a jealous boyfriend, a woman caught in the middle, and the likelihood of violence--it sounds like something out of the Wild West, but this novel is set in modern-day rural Alabama. Key masterfully plots the story of home, family, and fate, and readers will race to the conclusion, sensing the trouble to come. An original and satisfying coming-of-age tale.
Reviewer: Dean Schneider
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
November, 2012
(2)
YA
Fourteen-year-old Hal (a secondary character from Alabama Moon) is transferred to a juvenile detention center with a justifiably sinister reputation. He seeks the precarious middle ground between rival gangs and uncovers corruption in the prison's administration. Hal's narration is honest, suspenseful, and riveting. Short chapters, quick pacing, and plentiful dialogue make the book especially appealing for reluctant boy readers.
Reviewer: Jonathan Hunt
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
September, 2010
(2)
4-6
Orphaned ten-year-old Moon was raised to be dependent on no one--especially "the government"--for help. His plan to join other survivalists is waylaid when he's turned over to the state. First-time author Key thoroughly inhabits his protagonist; Moon's story is told in homespun prose, with his loneliness bleeding through his determination to make it alone.
Reviewer: Vicky Smith
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
September, 2006
5 reviews
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