Alabama Moon

 

Watt Key creates an exciting plot full of capture and escaped in Alabama Moon. Moon Blake's story starts peacefully in the deep woods of Alabama with his father. When his father, now his only surviving guardian, dies and the land they had lived on is sold and searched chaos erupts. An orphan and minor, Moon is discovered living alone and is sent to Pinson, a boy's home that fails to contain restless Moon. Kit Slip and Hal Mitchell help him, and all the other Pinson boys escape,yet are they only ones that stay with Moon to venture further from civilization. Only after Hal leaves to live with his father and Kit becomes fatally ill do they return. Lack of proper medical care causes Kit to lose his life and Moon to give up. An angry constable takes Moon to court before his family is found and notified of Moon. In the end, Moon is adopted by his uncle, Hal went on back to Pinson, and the story becomes calm yet again.

Moon Blake is clueless. He has no knowledge of manners, who to trust, of when to quit. The small bow takes down many grown men before realizing the care about his safety. His knowledge extends to survival in the forest, not in the city Moon wishes to be independent only because it is what he was taught by his father. He disapproves of the government just as his father did. Moon was taught how to survive, in this book he learns how to live.

Kit Slip was a Pinson orphan with medical issues. Moon showed him how to become a nature loving boy. Kit trusted Moon to show him how to become independent. For such a fragile boy, he sure had a strong will. Kit may have died in the end, but he made an impression on not only Hal and Moon, but the reader as well.

Kids do need guidance. This was the lesson I saw all throughout the book. If Moon and Kit had listened to the adults and taken Kit's medication, he would have stayed healthy. Moon wouldn't have won his trial against Constable Sanders without help from Mr. Wellington, Moon's lawyer, who found him after his father's death. Moon shouldn't have been so set on doing things on his own. He should have asked for help.

I enjoyed reading the book Alabama Moon, yet I did not enjoy the book itself. The plot was intriguing, but the ending wasn't what I expected. To me, books are supposed to be places where endings are perfect; where everyone is happy. In this book the weakest boy died. When I thought about that it seemed as though it diminished hope. I was waiting all through the book that Kit would get better, he would overcome his problems, but he didn't. Overall, the book was spectacular, but one depressing event and the ending ruined my night.

http://www.wattkey.com/ (This is Watt Key's website and where I got my picture.)