Dirt Road Home
A Novel
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- 8,99 €
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- 8,99 €
Beschreibung des Verlags
The story of of the orphan boy Moon, begun in Watt Key's award-winning Alabama Moon, continues with Dirt Road Home
After his recapture, gutsy 14-year-old Hal Mitchell is sentenced to live at Hellenweiler, an institution that is more like a jail than the boys' home it's supposed to be. Hal could walk out in just a few months if he keeps out of trouble. But in a place like Hellenweiler, the more he tries to avoid the gangs and their violence, the stronger Hal's fellow inmates try to make him fail. This title has Common Core connections.
"Key does a fabulous job of keeping his readers involved in the story and vested in the characters. Even reluctant readers will most likely find this one hard to put down." -- VOYA
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
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.
