Dirt Road Home by Watt Key

Dirt Road Home by Watt Key

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

Watt Key is an award-winning southern fiction author who writes under the pen name Albert Watkins Key, Jr. He grew up in southern Alabama and now resides there with his wife and family. Watt spent most of his time hunting and fishing in Alabama's forests, which served as the inspiration for his first novel, Alabama Moon, which was released to critical acclaim in 2006. Alabama Moon took home the E.B. White Award in 2007. The book won the White Read-Aloud Award, was named one of Time Magazine's 100 Best Young Adult Novels of All Time, and has been translated into seven languages.