Alone by Megan E. Freeman
In this middle grade novel-in-verse, twelve-year-old Maddie’s plan to have a secret sleepover goes terribly awry when she wakes up and her entire town has been abandoned and she is left alone.
With no way of contacting her parents or friends, will she be able to survive alone? And for how long?
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LJR’s Thoughts for Alone
This captivating novel in verse doesn’t come without some considerable cautions.
The whole premise of the story is that Maddie lies to her parents in order to have a secret sleepover with friends but when her friends can’t make it work, she’s stuck doing a solo slumber party. The consequences from the decision are evident immediately and Maddie regrets it quickly.
Freeman does a phenomenal job bringing you into Maddie’s world, despite being a novel in verse.
The story is engaging and Maddie, though having lied to her parents, is redeemed quickly and very likable. Maddie’s faith (or lack of Christian faith) shows itself and could be an issue for Christian families. Due to this, and some intense scenes (including one particularly heinous one with a kitten), I think Amazon’s reading age is off by at least a few years. In fact, it’s probably best for as a read-along with a more spiritually mature teen.
I personally loved the story as an adult but would be hesitant to just hand it over as an independent read based on the considerations given below.
Overall Rating: 3 out of 5
Christian Morals/Values: 1 out of 5
Story: 5 out of 5
Read-Aloud Value: 1 out of 5
Discussion Value: 5 out of 5
Recommended Post: Jack Zulu and the Waylander’s Key by S.D. Smith & J.C. Smith
Considerations for Alone
In our usual LJR fashion, we try to find anything that Christian families may want to know about ahead of time to address, skip, or dig deeper into. Take a look at what we found below. Our take on Discipleship Opportunities is at the bottom of the review.
- Positive Behavior: Character realizes pretty quickly what she did wrong and shows regret for it. Maddie is brave, resilient, kind, and a problem solver. She loves her family.
- Negative Behavior: Maddie begins the book by scheming to sleepover at an empty house with her two best friends. Character breaks into homes and businesses multiple times throughout the book but it’s to get supplies for food and shelter
- Language: “to h– with,” character mentions her dad telling a school official in no uncertain terms to do something to himself and go to h–, a–, d–n, d–ned, oh my G-d, other multiple instances of the word h–.
- Violence/Intense Scenes: A kitten is put in a sack and smashed against a vehicle, character gets seriously injured in the midst of a tornado,
- Religion/Spirituality: Character’s mom does yoga and wears a shirt with a lotus flower and om symbol; mention Jesus, Buddha, and Muhammad answering everyone’s prayers. Character considers how she’s “never given much thought to whether God exists let alone whether God pays any attention to my life. Character writes a letter asking God “why the h– haven’t you rescued me yet?” and “get me the h– out of here” and “where the h–are you?”. At one point, character shows gratitude to God. Mention of Mother Nature. At one point, character says she “feels like God.”
- Racism/Discrimination: none
- Romance/Sexuality: Not particularly about romance or sexuality but the main character gets her period for the first time. After some time, character wonders whether she’d be kissing someone for the first time. Character mentions she is “officially in love with Mary Oliver” a poet she has read. There is no indication of it being romantic; however, given today’s climate it is worth noting
- Substance Usage: none
Discipleship Opportunities
- Discussion of honoring your parents as well as not stealing or coveting. A basic run-down of the Ten Commandments would be great. Exodus 20
- You’ll definitely want to address the consequences of Maddie’s choice to lie to her parents and the consequences that eventually led to her being upset at God about not being rescued.
- In relation to the point above, a great conversation can be had about trusting God in the midst of dire circumstances and God’s glory being revealed through those circumstances.
- Specifically, the story of the blind man in John 9 as well as Joseph’s story starting in Genesis 37
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