Afar

Alone #3

by Megan E. Freeman

Two cousins, one accustomed to living outside civilization and one fleeing the dangers of it, learn to move forward together in this taut and compelling novel in verse that’s a standalone companion to the New York Times bestselling Alone and Away.

River, a budding eleven-year-old nature artist, gains a new viewpoint in life when his estranged cousin, Emma, and her mother come to his off-the-grid mountain compound to escape from a problematic home situation. Through Emma, River learns more about what has been happening in the area outside of their rural outpost (and what his brother, Mustang, has been up to) and starts to question the rules and restrictions that the group has imposed upon the community.

At the same time, Emma’s prevailing sense of dread about her stepfather leads her to cultivate her self-defense skills. With mass evacuations and panic outside the compound and questions stirring within, the cousins must lean on each other to weather the upheaval.

Genres: Middle Grade, Novel In Verse

352 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication February 23, 2027

About the author

Megan E. Freeman attended an elementary school where poets visited her classroom every week to teach poetry, and she has been a writer ever since. Her New York Times bestselling novel in verse, ALONE, won the Colorado Book Award, the Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, and Vermont Children’s Book Awards, the High Plains Book Award, is an NCTE Notable Verse Novel, and is included on over two dozen "best of" and state reading lists.

Megan is also a Pushcart Prize-nominated poet and the author of the poetry chapbook Lessons on Sleeping Alone. An award-winning teacher with decades of classroom experience, Megan is nationally recognized for her work leading workshops and speaking to audiences across the country.

Megan used to live in northeast Los Angeles, central Ohio, northern Norway, and on Caribbean cruise ships. Now she divides her time between northern Colorado and the Texas Gulf Coast.

Reviews

[Melanie Dulaney]

ALONE followed Maddie after she is abandoned in a town quickly evacuated due to massive contamination and must survive on her own. AWAY continues Ashanti’s story after the planned sleepover with Maddie and their 3rd friend Emma falls apart and she is evacuated to a refugee center where tension keep rising as everyone adjusts to not only living in a new community but trying to determine the exact reason for the emergency evacuation and when they will be allowed to return to their homes. In ALONE, Emma and her mother flee their center after the abuse from her step father reaches a new level of fearsome. She and mom Alysa join Aunt Iris in a hidden community where cell phones, computers and as much technology as possible has been eliminated in order to reconnect with each other and avoid the pitfalls of a device-focused society.

ALONE was my favorite book of 2021 and I was certain any follow up novels would fall short but I have not been disappointed in either of them! This 3rd installment is written from two points of view, Emma’s in verse and her cousin River’s in prose, and does an excellent job of looking into the heart of a 14 year old victim of abuse and the mind of a sheltered 11 year boy who has always loved his life but is now wondering if there is something missing. Great character development and world-building and readers will feel the action building until the exciting climax and satisfying resolution.

Highly recommended for libraries serving grades 4-8.

*Profanity: none
*Violence: Abuse against Emma and her mother by the stepfather is noted, tension and fear are palatable, and the attempts to hide wounds detailed but in a way appropriate to the age group and support from family and outside counseling sources is included.
*Sexual content: none
*Representation: Main characters are likely Caucasian but race and heritage of supporting characters is not indicated.
*LBGTQ+: At one point Emma speculates that River’s older brother Mustang may be leaving their encampment to visit a secret girlfriend or boyfriend.

Thanks for the eARC, Edelweiss and Aladdin Books.

[Erin]

Alone - Away - and now Afar. This is the third companion book in the Alone series, and I am thrilled to have read an early copy!

The author asked young readers to give her suggestions for the title, one word that started with the letter A, and Afar will take readers to a remote place where a group of survivalists have relocated and sworn off technology.

Here we get to know Emma, a character readers may recognize from the secret sleepover that set off the events in Alone. This is another survival story, with a dystopian setting, and partly written in verse. We are always in good hands with anything written by Megan E. Freeman. Her keen understanding of what readers want and her exceptional ability to craft words make her a truly talented writer.

And that cover! So good, Pascal Campion.

[Kate]

Wow, wow, wow!!! What a gift to have the chance to read an early copy of AFAR, the third book in Megan E. Freeman’s ALONE series. I read it in a single sitting, my heart in my throat for Emma and River the whole time. Young readers will clamor for this one, and for good reason. It’s gripping, rich with emotion, and the narrative tension builds to a breakneck conclusion. Just WOW. My thanks to the author and to Simon & Schuster for the ARC.

[Jessica Vitalis]

This book can absolutely be read on its own, but Megan E. Freeman fans will recognize Emma from the original book. The story takes place in a remote compound, where Emma and her mother arrive in an effort to escape Emma's violent stepfather. Between the unique setting, the counterculture, and the very real danger Emma and her mother are in, readers truly won't be able to put this story down. Another gem in the ALONE series!

[Sarah]

EARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
This goes along with the author’s previous books, Alone and Away, as it’s Emma’s turn for a story. In this case, Emma and her mom have arrived at a relative’s off-grid camp for safety, and the story was one that I couldn’t put down. It does not have to be read with the others, although they’ll make great follow up suggestions for readers who have missed them.

[Marilynrobbins]

I will never grew tired of reading anything by Megan E. Freeman. Everything she writes is pure gold, and AFAR is as fabulous as I expected. It is the book that completes Alone and then Away. Megan’s word choices are stunning. How lucky are the all the children that get to grow up reading her books. And how lucky am I to read them as an adult.

[Megan Freeman]

Great job, Meg!