Away

Freeman, Megan. Away (Companion to Alone)

February 11, 2025 by Aladdin

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

In this novel in verse set in Colorado, things are not going well. It's hot, there's a threat of wildfires, and we meet four kids who all have different interests. Ashantae Johnson, whose mother is a doctor, is interested in mythology, and is planning an sleepover with her friends. Grandin Stone lives out on a farm and helps his parents with the livestock. Teddy Brenkert lives with his grandmother, and the two share a love of old movies and theater. Harmony Adams-Paul wants to be a journalist and not only writes letters to her Aunt Beckie, who is working in the field, but also is researching muckrakers and writing essays about them, as well as giving her own news reports. When evacuation orders are given for an unspecified cause, all four find themselves with very few possessions, being herded into camps and made to give up their cell phones. Grandin's father is unwilling to give up his phone, and leaves the camp. After being shuttled around, Teddy and Harmony meet at Camp Rogers, and work on trying to figure out what is going on and why everyone has been made to leave their homes. Ashantae's mother is working at the camp, and Grandin is there are well. The official reason for the relocation is that there has been a toxic substance that has rendered certain areas unlivable, and there is a video shared with the residents showing a world that is slowly drying up and falling apart. When the kids notice that all of the land that the government wants to buy back is a long the river, they suspect that something else is going on. Grandin runs away, and meets some other kids who are trying to solve the mystery as well, and soon the Camp Rogers kids are putting out a zine and trying to find answers. After several years, people are unhappy being stuck in the camp. Will the truth ever come out so that they can move on with their lives? 

Strengths: The voices of the different characters are all very unique, and they are easy to tell apart. Ashantae doesn't use capitalization and references lots of mythology, Grandin is very matter-of-fact, Teddy often frames scenes as storyboards or film scripts, and Harmony's point of view is delivered in letters or news reports. The evacuation is realistically portrayed; if someone came to my door and told me I had to leave, and I saw all of my neighbors packing up, I probably would, too. Camp Rogers slowly evolves over the long time that people are there, with everyone pitching in to help out. Even though the school counselor wasn't great at science, at least the attempt was made to teach children! This is very different from Alone, but readers who picked up that story will find it interesting to see what the experience of others who were not abandoned was. 
Weaknesses: I found it hard to believe that Grandin's father was the only one insistent about keeping his phone. The plot only works if no one has access to information, though. It's a bit far fetched that Grandin is the only one who tries to leave to find out the truth. 
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who like dystopian books like Hughes' A Crack in the Sky or Perry's Scavengers.