Mobile novelist Watt Key has a new book on the way. Dirt Road Home, a companion novel to his debut, Alabama Moon, is scheduled for release this summer from publisher Farrar, Straus and Giroux, and is already available for preorder.
Rather than picking up directly where Alabama Moon left off, Dirt Road Home shifts its focus to Hal, a supporting character from the first book. Key has kept plot details for the new novel largely under wraps ahead of release, but the book is being positioned as a continuation of the world he introduced in 2006.
The Story Behind “Alabama Moon”
Alabama Moon, published in 2006 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, follows a boy raised in isolation in the Alabama woods by his survivalist father and his struggle to adapt after being forced into the outside world. The young-adult novel drew wide acclaim for its vivid depiction of Alabama’s rural wilderness and went on to be adapted into a feature film starring John Goodman, released in 2009.
Key, who lives in Mobile, has built a reputation for young-adult fiction grounded in the landscapes of south Alabama — its woods, rivers and small towns — and Dirt Road Home is expected to continue in that same vein.
What Comes Next
With a summer release date approaching, local readers and fans of Alabama Moon will soon get their first full look at Hal’s story. In the meantime, the book can be preordered ahead of its release.