Alone Megan E Freeman

Twelve year old Maddie organises to spend the night away from home with her two friends. She tells her dad she will be staying with her mum and she tells her mum she will stay with her dad. Maddie buys supplies and looks forward to a fun night in her, now empty, grandparents summer apartment. 

But both her friends have to cancel the sleepover at the last minute and so Maddie spends her evening alone. What she does not know it that this is the first night of hundreds that Maddie will be truly alone. At 12.01am Maddie receives a text message:

Imminent threat alert. Increased protective actions are being taken. Follow instructions of local authorities. This is not a drill.

There are tiny hints in this verse novel that the world is not the one you are familiar with. When Maddie's mother heads out to meditation class she comments:

"Thanks for babysitting, sweetie.

We should be back early

unless they're stopping people 

at the checkpoints.

We'll definitely be home 

before the curfew."

Over the following days, weeks, months and years, Maddie simply has to survive. The electricity is turned off across town. The water stops flowing. There are several dreadful emergency events such as a tornado and a lightning strike which causes fires all over town. Maddie also has to survive an injury and the winter cold with her only companion George -  the dog from next door. Over time she begins to break into houses, the supermarket and, luckily, the library. Books are her comfort and also a source of advice for things such as how to light a fire. 

Reading this book today the story engulfed me. I was on page 140 (this is a 400 page verse novel) when the phone rang. Do you know that feeling of being so caught up in a story that every aspect of your present reality has disappeared? I could barely rouse myself to answer the phone - this book had me in its grip!  I went out for a while. Came home. Read on and on until page 398 utterly immersed in Maddie's town and her amazing bravery and survival. Now have you guessed something about my four stars? This book was so close to five and yes (spoiler alert) I did want that all important happy ending but somehow the final three pages let me down. I wanted to know more. I need know why!

In this video Colby Sharp talks about the impact of this book. He loved loved loved it. Each of these reviews contain further plot details:

Suspenseful, fast-paced Kirkus

There are lots of good details about how to survive in a world with no utilities, (and) ... Maddie is COMPLETELY ALONE. The difficulties with weather and other catastrophe she faces make this more of a survival novel, and it's good to see that Maddie and George do fairly well for themselves. Ms Yingling

The 4 star review was tough for me. I longed to give it a 5, but not knowing exactly what caused the massive evacuation left me yearning for more answers. While I know that’s not the purpose of the book, and realizing Maddie’s storyline did have closure, I wonder if middle grade readers will feel the same.  My Book Village

I have listed this book as Young Adult. A very very mature Grade Six reader could read Alone but you do need to be aware of a very violent scene when the looters arrive in the town. After reading this book you will probably want to revisit or simply read these:

Finally I love these words from the author Megan E Freeman (her site has teacher's notes for Alone) in her book notes:

"I love novels in verse because they depend on collaboration between the reader and the author. You have to trust me to give you enough words to navigate the story, and I have to trust you to fill the empty space left on the page. It's a marvellous partnership, since our human imaginations love nothing more than co-creating stories. The poetry provides handholds and stepping stones to grasp and follow along the way."