Away

by Megan E. Freeman

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

An inspiring story of a group of kids forced out of their homes, but refusing to accept what they're told as to why. Once they start asking questions, it's up to them to get to the bottom of it all.

A group of children investigate the threat that prompted large-scale evacuations in this powerful and dramatic companion novel to the New York Times bestselling Alone told in multiple POVs.

After an imminent yet unnamed danger forces people across Colorado to leave their homes, a group of kids including an aspiring filmmaker and a budding journalist find themselves in the same evacuation camp. As they cope with the aftermath of having their world upended, they grow curious about the mysterious threat.

And as they begin to investigate, they start to discover that there’s less truth and more cover-up to what they’re being told. Can they get to the root of the conspiracy, expose the bad actors, and bring an end to the upheaval before it’s too late?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781665959728
Publisher:	Aladdin
Publication date:	02/11/2025
Series:	Alone
Pages:	480
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.70(d)
Age Range:	10 - 18 Years

About the Author

Megan E. Freeman attended an elementary school where poets visited her classroom every week, and she has been a writer ever since. She writes middle grade and young adult fiction. Megan is also a Pushcart Prize–nominated poet. An award-winning teacher with decades of classroom experience, Megan taught multiple subjects across the arts and humanities to students of all ages. She lives near Boulder, Colorado. Visit her online at MeganEFreeman.com.

Editorial Reviews

"The plot is solid and engrossing, and [the characters'] project results in a satisfying triumph."

-Booklist 

12/01/2024

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

School Library Journal

A full cast performs this mysterious companion story to ALONE. A looming threat forces thousands in Colorado to flee for their safety. Confined in "temporary" shelters for years, four kids seek out the truth behind their evacuation. The story unfolds through poems, newspaper reports, journal entries, and screenplays. Eunice Wong provides further context narrating radio announcements. Alejandra Reynoso gives a youthful but determined voice to the aspiring journalist Harmony. Angel Pean brings quiet focus to future doctor Ashanti, while Andre Bellido narrates as Grandin, an introspective teen who is afraid for his father, who stayed behind. Michael Crouch balances worry and determination as he voices Teddy, an aspiring documentary filmmaker who uses his talents behind the camera to help them all discover what's going on. E.E.C. © AudioFile 2025, Portland, Maine

MARCH 2025 - AudioFile

2024-10-26
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)

Kirkus Reviews