Hal is on his own, dealing with pressures and abuse from both gangs, though one more than the other. In fact, Fraley doesn't want anyone contradicting his cynical convictions about the boys. Hal is determined not to join either of the two gangs because he wants to keep his nose clean and get out fast, but avoiding trouble doesn't mean Fraley will support Hal's goals. The gangs battle for the Hellenweiler turf, having vicious fights on a regular basis. Hal finds out that Fraley has looked the other way, letting the boys form two gangs that brutalize newcomers into joining one or the other. This may sound harsh, but it is simply a reality that you must learn to face. It's nothing more than a kennel for dogs that have no hope of being chained.
In reality this place is a sort of human landfill that you hide on the outskirts of town.
But this is just political talk to our fine citizens. You see, they tell me to educate the boys.
He actually references Golding's classic in his orientation speech to Hal, then goes on to say: Hal's first worry isn't how awful his new home will be it's whether he'll be able to keep his temper and stay out of trouble so he won't be stuck in this place forever.īut soon he has other worries, because Superintendent Fraley has a dark, contemptuous approach to running Hellenweiler. This was a high-security jailhouse to lock down eighty bad boys. I already had the feeling that Pinson had been a preschool compared to this place. I had an idea what I'd find on the inside as well, and it wouldn't be pretty. It was always referred to as a "boys' home." But to look at the one-story cinder-block compound from the outside, there was no question what the place was modeled after. You would never hear an adult call Hellenweiler a prison. Here Hal compares the state residence where he met Moon to Hellenweiler Boys' Home (emphasis on the "hell"): Perhaps I should say this book is Heart of Darkness for fourteen-year-olds, or even One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. At the end of that book, Hal was sent to juvie to finish paying his so-called debt to society. If you've read Alabama Moon, you may recall that Moon, a boy raised in the wilderness by a Vietnam vet father who distrusted everybody but especially the government, was placed in a boys' home after his father's death and managed to tame a bully named Hal. That said, it's a good book because Watt Key is a terrific storyteller, and I do love finding out what happens to Moon's friend Hal. To put it bluntly, Dirt Road Home has a kind of Lord of the Flies vibe. But I will add a cautionary note, one that reflects my experience reading both books: Alabama Moon is middle grade fiction (ages 9-12), while Dirt Road Home is YA (Young Adult, ages 12 and up). I am a big fan of Watt Key's book, Alabama Moon, so I was happy to discover this sequel.
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