Alone
4/5
()
About this ebook
Perfect for fans of Hatchet and the I Survived series, this harrowing middle grade debut novel-in-verse from a Pushcart Prize–nominated poet tells the story of a young girl who wakes up one day to find herself utterly alone in her small Colorado town.
When twelve-year-old Maddie hatches a scheme for a secret sleepover with her two best friends, she ends up waking up to a nightmare. She’s alone—left behind in a town that has been mysteriously evacuated and abandoned.
With no one to rely on, no power, and no working phone lines or internet access, Maddie slowly learns to survive on her own. Her only companions are a Rottweiler named George and all the books she can read. After a rough start, Maddie learns to trust her own ingenuity and invents clever ways to survive in a place that has been deserted and forgotten.
As months pass, she escapes natural disasters, looters, and wild animals. But Maddie’s most formidable enemy is the crushing loneliness she faces every day. Can Maddie’s stubborn will to survive carry her through the most frightening experience of her life?
Megan E. Freeman
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.
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Reviews for Alone
82 ratings14 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5i felt the emotions through the screen. i almost cried at the end because it was such a happy ending. new favorite book!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This book was amazing! I loved the way it was written and the plot of the story. It got into the characters head so well! Would recommend this for sure
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Really great read and very fast. I was shocked at the ending but it was inevitable. I wish we could have seen her through someone else’s eyes after she’d been alone for so long.
Felt a little rushed towards the end-like I’m done writing this book, let me finish it up. But it was good and cute. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Conflicted -- it was an easy read and an engaging one -- I wanted to know what would happen next and that tension never went away. So if you're in the mood for post apocalyptic survival, it's not too bad. On the other hand -- very little actually happened, aside from a girl looting a city to stay alive and hanging out with her dog. She doesn't even try gardening until the very end. It did feel extremely realistic, just oddly anticlimactic. Hatchet is a much better read for the genre. Also the ending really is anticlimactic, but that felt realistic, too.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/512 year-old Maddie is planning a sneak sleepover with her 2 best friends unbeknownst to her divorced parents. However, her friends cancel out and she spends the night alone, enjoying the break from family life. When she awakens, the whole town has been evacuated ahead of "an imminent threat" and she can't reach her parents or anyone. She combs the town day after day, looking for food and supplies, and finds her neighbor's dog George who she keeps with her for company. As time passes, she comes across looters who are too dangerous to trust, so her nerves are on edge as she stays in hiding while at the same time, craves human companionship. She must find a way to stay safe from wild dogs, survive the winter cold in Colorado, and not lose her sanity. This is an excellent urban survival story for grades 5-8, even though the wrap-up is a little weak.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I enjoyed this novel. It had more emotion that I was expecting and following Maddie's story of survival was inspirational. Written in verse, the author captured Maddie's loneliness, confusion, desperation and heartache.I really liked Maddie and her faithful, four-legged companion, George. "Alone" was a quick, provocative read that kept me on the edge of my seat and I will be recommending it to our younger readers looking for an exciting read.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Alone is a 2022 Lone Star selection.Maddie devises a plan for her and her friends to spend the night in her empty grandparents' apartment, eating and watching TV without parents. It's a twelve year old's dream. Maddie's parents are divorced, so she tells each that she's at the other parent's house. Her two friends say they're sleeping at each others' houses. First problem--one friend gets sick, so the other friend can't get away because her parents won't let her stay with a sick friend. Maddie ends up alone. Eventually falling asleep, she wakes to a new world. Second problem is that her cell phone runs out of batter, so upon waking, Maddie plugs it in and discovers something terrible happened overnight. In less than twelve hours, the entire town was evacuated due to an "imminent threat." Maddie doesn't pay attention to the news, so she doesn't really understand what's happened. You do find out, kind of, what happened that necessitated everyone being evacuated. Maddie lives in Colorado--the entire state is evacuated. To evacuate this many people in less than twelve hours is rather unbelievable. I've never seen government operate this efficiently. She frantically rides her bike about and tries to call people, but absolutely no one answers the phone. She finds out why pretty quickly and has a third problem. Maddie is now truly alone. Maddie begins the story after being alone for three years and flashes back to tell about her time. Thankfully, she's in a city and there are no people with whom to share. She can go from grocery story to corner store to any store to get food and water as well as all the abandoned houses. Her only companion is the dog from next door. Being alone without anyone to talk to for a day is hard. Time wears on and the question becomes how does one mentally deal with being alone and not knowing what is going on in the world. One illness can mean death. One accident can mean a broken bone, which can be permanently disabling. Caution and bravery are necessary.I'm not a huge fan of people stranded somewhere alone. I never even wanted to see Cast Away even though people loved the movie. I don't care for books where people are held captive, so it's just their narrow existence. I don't know if I find it too disturbing and I say I'm bored or if I'm genuinely bored. I liked the length of this novel. I didn't get bored. I did listen to the novel, and I suspect it's a novel-in-verse. I could be wrong. Overall, I did enjoy it. I think it presents an interesting dilemma concerning what are our true needs. How courageous are we? I recommend this novel; I think most of you will really enjoy it.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5It was ok- I think the author had a good idea but it wasn’t very realistic. The book left you with a lot of questions at the end as well. The book was fast paced but it had its dull moments.I wouldn’t read this again. If your someone like me who doesn’t have a lot of time to read I suggest you skip this one. Find a better book like the hunger games.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This was a quick read but I did enjoy it. This would be perfect for kids or teens who are into dystopian fiction like Ashfall and Not a Drop to Drink. I also liked this teen novel a lot because it was in verse and had a female protagonist. Alone is the story of a 12 year old girl who tricks her parents into thinking she is staying some place she isn't for a sleepover and as a result gets left behind in a massive evacuation. When she awakes the next day there is no one left in the town. She saves the neighbors dog and together they learn what it will take to survive in Colorado with no electricity or fresh food. She's hopeful that her family will come back for her once they realize she was gone - but no one is coming back. What imminent threat was there? A good survival story.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Maddie is a typical teen living in Colorado. Maddie splits her time between her mom and step-dad’s house and her dad and step-mom’s house. She and two of her friends hatch a plan to spend a night at Maddie’s grandparents apartment alone. Maddie tells her mom she is staying with her dad and tells her dad she is staying with her mom to babysit. She goes to her grandma’s apartment and waits for her two friends to arrive. Unfortunately, their parents call her mom and are told she is at her dad’s so they can’t go anywhere. Then the unimaginable happens. Maddie hears sounds of panic outside of her grandma’s apartment. People are being rounded up. She hears the neighbor tell the person in charge that the owners are out of state. Maddy wakes the next morning to learn that everyone in her town has been evacuated due to an “imminent threat”. This begins Maddie’s journey to survive. She doesn’t know what the threat is. As she goes about town she finds a barrel with cell phones in it. She dials her mom’s number and hears a phone ring in one of the barrels, she tries her dad’s phone and her friends’ phones only to realize every one of them were left behind. This is a story of survival. It starts with Maddie talking to one of her step-brothers about the book “Island of the Blue Dolphins”. There are definite similarities between the book and Maddie’s new reality. I loved that this was told in verse which made it a very quick read. The emotional aspect as you go day by day and year by year on this ride with Maddie makes you wonder what you would do if you were left behind. Can’t wait to put this on my school shelves.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Maddie is ALONE for years after her Colorado town is evacuated and she is left behind. The sparse poetry chronicle her efforts to survive, prepare, her resourcefulness, her loneliness, and the books & dog that keep her company. A quick read.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5From Goodreads Employees summer '21 recommendations comes Alone by Megan E. Freeman. This book, meant for the YA crowd, was thoroughly enjoyed by this Baby Boomer who found it an edge of the seat sort of read.Maddie, 12 years old going on 13, plans a secret girls night out with her two best friends at her Grandma's unoccupied summer apartment. Surrounded by snacks and sodas and frozen pizzas she waits for her friends to arrive. As luck would have it, her friends can't make it so Maddie spends the night alone and wakes up to a national emergency. No cell service, can't reach parents, her divorced parents each think she's with the other......when in actuality she's.....alone. What you have here is a very dystopian world where everyone is gone and Maddie is forced to fend for herself, alone, for months with only George, her neighbor's Rottweiler for companionship.Great summer read that will keep you on the edge of your beach chair.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This may be a middle grade novel, but the subject matter and the gorgeous prose can easily be enjoyed for older readers. This is a novel in verse, which can be decisive for many readers, but I found it took nothing from the story and actually read better than a regular chapter book. You are still able to plainly feel Maddie’s hope, pain and loneliness. You can also see the desolate town and the wilds of nature through Maddie’s eyes.This wasn’t always an easy book to read: for for example, reading about Maddie finding all of the pets left behind made me cry. Maddie faces wild animals and natural disasters, but nothing ever felt unrealistic like it has in other books. Maddie often finds out the hard way how to do something she has never done before, and she’s tenacious in her quest to expand her knowledge. It’s how I imagine I and others would fare in the same situation-I would just study as much as I could and use what I learned.This was a beautiful book and I can’t help but give it more praise. Its’s sad to see the lower star reviews on here and I hope those reviewers give it another chance.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I liked Maddie and George the faithful rottweiler and there survival story. As a librarian, I loved Maddie's reliance on the library for knowledge, entertainment, and most of all, solace, from how to build a fire to Mary Oliver's poetry. As a naturalist, I loved the author's descriptions of the land, birds and wildlife, and her character finding strength and peace in it despite natural disasters. Though I understand that the story was about Maddie, I wish the author had given more of an explanation of the "imminent threat." Overall, a fast-paced, thoughtful, adventurous read.
Book preview
Alone - Megan E. Freeman
Heaven
(n.) bliss, ecstasy, paradise, dreamland
Back When My Life Was Heaven and I Had No Idea
Shoes off before you come in!
Mom hollers as I open the kitchen door.
I mopped today.
She wipes orange slop off the baby’s face.
"Honey, I know you have different rules
at your dad’s, but could you try
a little harder to make an effort
when you’re at our house?"
Sometimes
the way my mom talks to me
feels like a scratchy shirt tag
on the back of my neck.
I kick off my tattered silver Converse
and calculate how much more
I need to save before
I can special-order a custom pair
for my thirteenth birthday.
Mom hugs me.
"Sorry, sweetie.
I’m just rushing to get ready to go.
So glad you’re home."
Hands me a mug filled with
chopped carrots and celery.
I bet you’re starving.
I squeeze an empty Twinkie wrapper in my pocket.
I’ll have to remember to throw it away later.
Before middle school
I was never even tempted to lie.
Lately though
it just seems to make things
so much simpler.
Mom
Are you going out like that?
I make my horror obvious.
Mom has on the paisley embarrassments
she calls her meditation pants.
She always wears something mortifying
to the Tuesday-night dharma talks.
They all just sit still and
learn to breathe.
Like breathing is something
you have to learn.
Mom does that thing
where she pulls my hair
to get me to smile.
"Oh come on, honey.
It’s called a ‘sitting meditation.’
If I wore jeans like yours
I’d lose circulation in my legs.
Come to think of it
did your dad see you wearing those
when you left this morning?"
Seriously?
My jeans are not even tight.
So what if the shape
of my cell phone
is permanently embossed
on one pocket?
Sometimes just being
in the same room with my mom
even the sound of her voice
makes it hard to be a person.
Paul’s car pulls up.
Mom grabs her wallet
out of the diaper bag.
"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."
She kisses Trevor.
Calls to the twins.
"Hey, guys, bedtime at
the usual time tonight.
No messing around!"
She signs I love you
toward the dining room
blows me a kiss
and is gone.
Brothers
Trevor smiles from his high chair.
Reaches for me.
I lean in.
Pretend to steal his nose.
He erupts in belly laughs.
Smears pureed carrots in my long hair.
I pull it into a ponytail with
a twist tie.
Sigh.
I adore my baby brother
but
I want to get upstairs.
Check on The Weekend Plan.
You couldn’t pay me enough to eat that.
Elliott surprises me.
Unnaturally quiet.
Never hear him coming.
I try to bribe him to feed Trevor.
(I have another Twinkie
in my backpack.
In the gluten-free economy
of my bizarre family
Twinkies are worth a lot
on the stepbrother
black market.)
But he’s helping James.
Science project.
Can’t be bought.
They have one of those
freaky twin connections.
Can read each other’s minds.
Plus the fact that James is deaf
makes me feel awkward.
Even after all this time.
I know it’s not cool
to say that, but there it is.
I said it anyway.
Doesn’t help I live half-time
with Dad and Jennifer.
I used to love the regular breaks
from gluten-phobic diets and
silent dinner conversations.
Until Paul and Mom had Trevor.
Now it feels like I’m missing out.
I want my own freaky connection
with someone who can read my mind.
Pocket vibrates.
Click on Ashanti’s name.
6:55 p.m.
WEEKEND MISSION IS GO
Our Weekend Plan (or, How I Got Myself into This Mess)
We are going
to lie
to our parents
and have
a
secret sleepover.
Emma and Ashanti
will say
they are spending
the night at
each other’s house
and I will tell Mom
I am with Dad
and tell Dad
I am with Mom
but
we will actually
sleep over at
my grandparents’ empty
summer apartment.
We will:
make popcorn
stay up super late
watch glamorous old Katharine Hepburn movies
lounge on the king-sized bed
sleep as long as we like
No one nagging us to:
get up
do the laundry
clean your room
change (stinky gross) diapers
We. Are. Geniuses.
Thesis
After dinner, Elliott sneaks up on me again.
"Can you please help me with my book report?
I’m having trouble with my thesis."
Thesis?
He’s in fourth grade.
What does he know about drafting a thesis?
I’m in Accelerated.
(my family is a freak show)
He takes a deep breath.
Launches his explanation.
"It’s called Island of the Blue Dolphins
and it’s about a girl who lives alone
on an island for eighteen years.
She jumps off a boat and stays behind
to save her brother but then he dies
and she tames a dog and later she makes a friend
but really she’s pretty much on her own
until she’s totally grown up and—"
ELLIOTT.
Sharper than I intend.
His hands flutter.
He shifts his weight.
I tweak the brim of his hat.
He relaxes.
"I have to prove whether her biggest challenge is to
defend herself against the wild dogs
provide food and shelter for herself
or
learn to trust a friend."
Plot details are sketchy in my memory.
I ask him what he thinks.
Her brother dies and she’s left alone.
Elliott’s eyes fill with tears.
The wild dogs get him.
He glances toward the dining room
where we hear James working.
Jeez. Why do they let little kids read stuff like this
even if they are in Accelerated?
Listen, Ell,
I say, "wild dogs can be scary for sure
and it sucks what happens to her brother
but if she doesn’t have a place to live and
food to eat, she can’t exactly survive, can she?
I think her biggest challenge is B, definitely."
Elliott exhales.
"Really? I kind of thought so too
but I wasn’t positive. Thanks, Maddie!"
I smile.
And think of the upcoming weekend.
Our very own Island of No Brothers or Parents.
All alone with unlimited fun and freedom.
Cannot wait.
Paul
I wrangle the boys into their bunk beds.
Trevor finishes his bottle and falls
asleep in the crib across the room
from where I lie on my own twin bed.
I don’t love sharing my room
but at least for now he’s quiet.
Log in to my laptop.
Kitten videos.
Tumbling around on
a patient golden retriever.
Adorable. So precious.
Hear garage door.
Switch computer to online history textbook.
Open binder.
Stretch out on stomach.
Pretend to study.
After a few minutes, Paul peeks in the open door.
Hey there, how’s it going, kiddo?
He crosses to Trevor’s crib.
Tucks in the baby blanket.
I grunt.
Frown at my Cornell notes.
Draw an elephant in the margin.
(My friends all say I draw really good elephants.)
Paul tries again.
"It’s nice to have you here. We miss you
on the weeks you’re at your dad’s."
Not even sure why I’m being so rude.
Paul’s gentle voice brings out the meanest part of me.
"Well, we really appreciate you babysitting
so we could have a little date. Thanks."
He pauses.
A few awkward moments.
I keep drawing.
Okay. Sleep tight.
Paul leaves the room.
Closes the door.
exhale
slam the computer shut
roll onto my back
stare up at the ceiling fan
trace the pattern of blades moving in lazy rotations
weekend can’t come soon enough
Friday
Feeling fine.
New striped top and denim leggings.
Jean jacket. Floral backpack.
I even let Mom kiss me
as I leave for school.
Language Arts
(autopilot)
Pre-Algebra
(autopilot)
Study Hall
(shopping list)
Social Studies
(lockdown drill)
Fine Art
(progress on vanishing-point project)
Spanish
(autopilot)
Earth Science
(autopilot)
Final bell!
Bike to store.
(snacks, soda, frozen pizza)
Grocery bags on handlebars.
Fifteen-minute wait at intersection for
military trucks to roll through town.
Convoys come through every day now.
Mom always has the news on
listening for information
about checkpoints and delays
and protective action
curfews
whatever that means.
I personally don’t get why everyone is so uptight.
It’s just a bunch of trucks moving stuff around
not World War III.
Pedal to grandparents’ empty apartment.
(Easy to get the key
since Dad had an extra set
hanging on a hook
in the laundry room.)
Soda in fridge to chill.
TV on.
Feet up.
YES
Tangled Web
to Mom 4:46 p.m.
plan changed
staying over at dads for help with huge history project
back tomorrow afternoon xo
to Dad 4:47 p.m.
babysitting tonight for P and Mom
c u sunday after church? I’ll make the waffles this time!
from Mom 4:50 p.m.
Please ask Dad if he might be able to get us two tickets to the concert next Thursday? I’d like to take Paul for his