He grew up and currently lives in southern Alabama with his wife and family.

The characters did what I think what real people would do.' -Travis, age 11, as part of the Blue Willow readers programĪbout the Author Albert Watkins Key, Jr., publishing under the name Watt Key, is an award-winning southern fiction author. This was the most realistic book I've ever enjoyed. for comeuppance it doesn't get much more satisfying.' -Booklist 'The tension, positioning, threats, and shifting alliances among the boys are believable and will hook readers.' -School Library Journal 'I really liked the book Dirt Road Home. Hal's efforts to contain his rage and navigate brawls keep the atmosphere tense and pacing fleet. There's more than enough action to keep the fidgitiest adolescent boy glued to the page here.' -Mobile Press-Register '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.' -Publishers Weekly 'The short chapters, quick pacing, and plentiful dialogue make Key's impressive second effort an especially appealing choice for reluctant boy readers.' -The Horn Book 'A gripping tale of a 14-year-old caught in a justice system that is not about justice at all.' -Kirkus Reviews 'Hal quickly learns that the boys who want to fight him aren't his real challenge-it's the guards who allow it to happen.' -Birmingham Magazine '. 'Key nicely paces his tale, steadily building the tension. Even reluctant readers will most likely find this one hard to put down. Key does a fabulous job of keeping his readers involved in the story and vested in the characters. 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. Hal could walk out in just a few months if he keeps out of trouble.

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. The more Hal tries to avoid the gangs and their violence, the more his fellow inmates try to make him fail. About the Book After his recapture at the end of 'Alabama Moon,' gutsy 14-year-old Hal Mitchell is sentenced to live at Hellenweiler.

Dirt Road Home by Watt Key