Last year, I read a book called Alone. It was a verse book about a girl who ends up being left behind after her entire town is evacuated. I would recommend that book to kids who were fans of books like Hatchet. But the one thing that drove me nuts was the fact that they never explained where everyone else went or why they were evacuated. I was so annoyed, but I guess I just had to wait for this book!
Away is the companion book to that book. We follow along with four kids who are evacuated from their homes in the middle of the night to an old camp. They don’t know what happened or how long they will be stuck there.
Each kid had their own hopes and dreams before all of this happened. Teddy wants to make films, Ashanti wants to be a doctor like her mom, Grandin wants to serve his country, and Harmony wants to be a journalist. They quickly become friends and use their strengths to help each other through the long days, weeks, months….
They help save some puppies, comfort each other, and even start a zine for the community. But as the evacuation continues, they begin to dig a little deeper into what is going on, and they believe they have uncovered a conspiracy about why they were really evacuated. What will they do next? What can they do? They are just kids. Truthfully, they are amazing kids. They work so hard to figure out what is going on. I was impressed with all that they accomplished.
It reminds me a little of lockdown. Lots of kids were able to find their strengths when there was little else to do, but some struggled being stuck in place and wanted nothing more than to get back out into the world. This was similar.
I also think this would be a great book for starting a media club. Look at what these kids did. They weren’t all just writing; they were researching, investigating, and interviewing. They were doing so much!
Five out of Five Magical Coffee Cups
Literary Coffee 