Deep Water
MASL Book Trailer Winner
Deep Water: RJ H. from Marshfield Jr. High School
About the Author
Watt Key was born in 1970, the first of seven children. He grew up in Point Clear, Alabama, a remote coastal area, so he had to know how to entertain himself; spending a lot of time outdoors fishing, building tree forts, and trapping animals to cook himself and eat, in the swamp. His childhood home didn’t have central air or heating, and their way of living was so minimal that their mattresses were bare, and no one had their own bed; everything was on a first-come first-serve basis.
His grandfather was a great storyteller and his parents read to them often. He was always fascinated with the concept of creating a book. He wrote his own stories, illustrated them, and bound them in cardboard. His mom saved his first hand made book that he wrote when he was ten: a Steven King-type story about a dog caught in a barbed-wire fence during a tornado, it had a masking tape cover and gruesome pictures.
In school, he was mediocre in everything but creative writing; his storytelling ability stood out, but he wouldn’t have known this if it weren’t for his high school English teacher; he loved hearing her praises so he worked hard for her. He attended Birmingham-Southern College and began to write seriously: he was bored without his vast outdoors home to entertain him; writing was a way to occupy his time. It was fifteen years before he could get a novel published. ALABAMA MOON was his ninth novel, or maybe tenth.
He lives in south Alabama with his wife and three children. He still practices his craft; he is grateful he is able to sell his writings and is thankful to his readers.
He loves books; some of his favorites are:
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
The Red Pony by John Steinbeck
Shane by Jack Shaefer
Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
Roughing It by Mark Twain
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Danny The Champion of the World by Roald Dahl
The Giving Tree by Shel Siverstein
About the Book
Its the most important rule of SCUBA diving: if you don’t feel right, don’t go down. Therefore, after her father gets sick, twelve-year-old Julie Sims must take over and lead two of his clients on a dive off the coast of Alabama. When the two clients, a twelve-year-old careless boy and his just-as-careless father, don’t listen to Julie during the dive, she sees she is in over her head. When she surfaces, things get worse: one of the clients is in serious condition, and their dive boat has vanished—along with Julie’s father, the only person who knows their location. They could die of hypothermia, unless sharks eat them first. Julie may not like her clients, but she is the only one who can save them all.
Reviews
“A nail-biting survival tale.” ―Kirkus Reviews
"A gripping tale of survival in the open water." ―School Library Journal
“Key offers plenty of nail-biting suspense in this survival tale about a deep-sea dive off the Alabama coast that goes horribly wrong . . . The story meticulously details the steps that quick-thinking Julie takes to stay alive. Julie’s troubled family history and her changing relationship with Shane are also examined, intensifying the book’s emotional impact.” ―Publishers Weekly
“Readers hungry for an epic tale of grueling odds will also find lessons in bravery, resourcefulness, and practical survival advice.” ―Booklist
Lexile 720
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