This week I want to share one of my favorite recent reads - Alone, by Megan E Freeman.

I picked up this book after hearing what a smash hit it was with Caitlin Lore’s seniors back when I interviewed her for our episode about verse novel book clubs. If a ton of seniors loved it AND it was middle school appropriate with a younger protagonist, I figured it was a must-read! 

I knew coming in that it was a survival story, set in a dystopian future, and that it was a novel-in-verse.

I read it in two days, and loved it just as much as I expected. It’s compelling, dramatic, and lyrical, and it manages to maintain suspense without being too frightening. 

I’ve often seen it compared to Hatchet, but for me it felt quite different. Much more familiar. While the main character in Hatchet crashes a plane onto an island where he has to survive alone in nature, 12-year-old Maddie must survive in her own city when she wakes up to find every other citizen has been evacuated for some kind of mysterious national emergency, and she was accidentally left behind. It’s easy to start imagining what you would do in the same situation as you read. 

Besides loving the book, I appreciated the notes from Megan Freeman at the end. Particularly the way she shared a section of the book written in prose and then its makeover into verse. This could easily become the basis of a creative writing project for kids working through any novel-in-verse or novel-in-verse book clubs. 

So if you’ve got a couple of hours and a hammock, beach, or cozy couch available this week, I highly recommend reading Alone, by Megan E. Freeman and thinking about how to incorporate it into your book clubs, First Chapter Friday program, or choice reading library. 

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