Away

December 1, 2024

Gr 5 Up-Freeman returns to the world Maddie survived in Alone, wherein the 12-year-old is left behind after her town is evacuated due to an "imminent threat." This story features the perspectives of those who leave including Ashanti, 12, who wants to be a doctor like her mother who is caring for the whole camp; Grandin, 14, who wants to be a rancher like his father who escaped the forced abandonment to save his stock; Harmony, 12, who wants to be a journalist like Nellie Bly; and Teddy, 11, who wants to be a filmmaker. This story is delivered through their separate perspectives in verse, using different typefaces to distinguish their narratives. Remembered movie plots that become metaphors for the action explain the teens' and tweens' concerns, and become blueprints for how they might discover the truth behind their quarantined incarceration. Interspersed throughout are news briefs, letters, screenplays, and descriptions of classic cinema. The pace is fast with plenty of action, skimming over plot holes with quick explanations and specific references. This sequel is sure to attract readers who enjoyed Maddie's story. VERDICT Intended readers are more likely to suspend disbelief and gloss over credibility issues as they tear through the text to see what happens to Maddie and her community.-Janet S. Thompson

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2024
Four young people come together in a relocation camp after they're suddenly evacuated from their Colorado homes. In this companion toAlone (2021), Ashanti Johnson, 12, Grandin Stone, 14, Harmony Addams-Paul, 12, Teddy Brenkert, 11, and their families are whisked off to a fenced-in camp amid urgent announcements of a never-specified threat. There, they're cut off by armed guards and a cell phone ban from all contact with the outside world. Eventually, after nearly two years of official obfuscation and foot dragging, they come to suspect that all is not as it seems. The plot and the whole scenario require a major suspension of disbelief, but to readers who can roll with it, Freeman delivers an engaging tale in which young crusaders strive to overcome both parental passivity and corrupt authorities to discover and expose a dastardly scheme. Of the leads, only Grandin, who comes from a ranching family and hopes to become an environmentalist, wrestles with sharp feelings of displacement, but the others do have a variety of personal interests (such as Ashanti's deep knowledge of Greek mythology) and family issues that emerge. The narrative unfolds in introspective free verse, transcripts of radio broadcasts, stories in the camp's newspaper by student journalist Harmony, and scripted film scenes by aspiring filmmaker Teddy (whose behavior may signal neurodiversity). Most characters present white; Ashanti is cued Black. Scary and satisfying, for all its implausibility.(Verse fiction. 11-14)

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

February 1, 2025
Grades 6-9 The "imminent threat" that stranded Maddie in Freeman's previous Alone (2021) transports Colorado residents to evacuation camps in this companion work. Four children connect at Camp Rogers: Ashanti, 12, future doctor and friend of Maddie; Grandin, 14, from a ranch and ready to return there; Teddy, 11, a budding filmmaker who arrived with his grandmother; and Holly, 12, who dreams of being the next Nelly Bly. As the evacuation stretches from weeks to months, they suspect that the imminent threat isn't the disaster they were set to believe it was--and they're right. They decide to pool their talents to expose the truth. The narrative comes from all four with varied, creative approaches: Ashanti tells her part in lush poetry loaded with imagery, Grandin's poetry is spare and direct, Teddy's narrative is written like a screenplay, and Holly's entries are expressed as newspaper articles and letters to her journalist aunt. The plot is solid and engrossing, and their project results in a satisfying triumph.

COPYRIGHT(2025) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.