Vendor
	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Sebastian Ritscher
Categories
Children’s, Teenage & Educational

FOURMILE

Watt Key

From the author of one of the most highly acclaimed children's survival adventures of the last decade comes this tautly wound new novel reminiscent of classic westerns, about a boy caught in the middle of a clash that may turn out to be his own battle to fight.

Twelve-year-old Foster knows in his gut that Dax Ganey, the man dating his widowed mother, is a bad seed. Then a mysterious stranger arrives at their Alabama farm, a former Army Ranger in Iraq rambling across the country, and Foster believes he has found an ally against Dax. The stranger proves a fascinating mentor, full of wisdom and secrets. And Dax soon has reason to resent not just him and Foster but also Foster’s mother. A spurned Dax will be a dangerous enemy, but Foster is increasingly aware that the stranger is just as dangerous, if not more so. Albert Watkins Key, Jr., publishing under the name Watt Key, is an award-winning southern fiction author. A resident of Alabama, his debut novel Alabama Moon was published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 2006 and was the 2007 winner of the E.B. White Read-Aloud Award for older readers. It received a 2006 Parents' Choice Award. Key says that growing up relatively isolated in Point Clear, Alabama, a rural area, inspired him to develop his imagination in a way that lead to his decision to write. Alabama Moon has been translated and published in seven languages as of 2011. Key's second novel, Dirt Road Home, following Hal Mitchell, reform-school buddy of the hero of Alabama Moon was published in 2010. His third novel, FOURMILE, is due out in 2012 from publisher Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Available products
Book Published 2012-09-01 by Farrar, Strauss & Giroux

Comments

Like Moon, the protagonist of Key’s Alabama Moon, 12-year-old country boy Foster is a rough-edged hero with a barrelful of troubles and a large, compassionate heart. Foster is still grieving the death of his father when his mother begins dating another man, Dax, who scares Foster “in a way I didn’t understand. Like somebody I’d find standing over my bed at night, closing those fingers around my throat.” To make matters worse, Foster’s mother wants to sell their rural Alabama farm, which her late husband “worked and saved ten years” to buy. Then a mysterious hiker named Gary shows up and offers to do some much-needed repairs. Spending his nights in the barn and his days fixing things, Gary wins the trust of Foster and his mother, but makes an enemy of Dax. As tensions between Gary and Dax mount, Key masterfully unveils secrets, leading up to an explosive climax that tests the courage of everyone involved. Suspenseful and introspective, Key’s novel is an intimate portrait of the messy complexities of modern small-town life.

Key has crafted another powerful, riveting coming-of-age tale. Foster’s first-person voice is richly authentic as he gradually acquires the wisdom that will eventually lead him to a believable though heart-wrenching resolution. Deeply moving and fast-paced, this life-affirming effort is a worthy addition to the bookshelves of sturdy readers.