Alabama Moon is a 2006 novel by Watt Key

Watt Key

Albert Watkins Key, Jr., publishing under the name Watt Key, is an award-winning southern fiction author. A resident of Alabama, his debut novel Alabama Moon was published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 2006 and was the 2007 winner of the E.B. White Read-Aloud Award for older readers. It received...

. The story follows the adventures of Alabama

Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

 native Moon Blake.

The novel was originally published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Farrar, Straus and Giroux is an American book publishing company, founded in 1946 by Roger W. Straus, Jr. and John C. Farrar. Known primarily as Farrar, Straus in its first decade of existence, the company was renamed several times, including Farrar, Straus and Young and Farrar, Straus and Cudahy...

 in 2006.

Following the release of the published work, a movie based upon the book titled Alabama Moon

Alabama Moon

Alabama Moon is a 2010 film starring Jimmy Bennett and John Goodman, based on the book Alabama Moon by Watt Key. The story takes place in the forests of Alabama.-Plot:...

is scheduled for release in 2011.

Synopsis

After the death of his father, ten-year-old Moon leaves their forest shelter home and is sent to an Alabama institution, becoming entangled in the outside world he has never known and making good friends, a relentless enemy, and finally a new life.

Awards

• A Parents’ Choice Gold Award Winner
• Winner of the 2007 E.B. White Read Aloud Award for Older Readers
• Winner of the 2007 SIBA Book Award for a Children’s Book
• A Bank Street Best Children’s Book of the Year
• A VOYA Top Shelf Fiction Pick for Middle School Readers
• A Book Sense Children’s Pick
• Kentucky Bluegrass State Award Master List
• Selected by Barnes & Noble for their 2006 Discover Great New Writers program
• Chosen as a Borders Original Voice
• Finalist for the 2009 German Youth Literature Award
• California Young Reader Medal
  California Young Reader Medal
  The California Young Reader Medal is an award given annually to books nominated and voted on by children in California. The medal was established in 1974 and encourages recreational reading...
  
  winner, 2010