Albert Watkins Key, Jr., publishing under the name Watt Key and Albert Key, is an American fiction author who is known for writing young-adult survival fiction. A resident of Alabama, his debut novel Alabama Moon was published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 2006 and was the 2007 winner of the E.B. White Read-Aloud Award for older readers. It received a 2006 Parents' Choice Award. Alabama Moon has been translated and published in eight languages. In 2015 Alabama Moon was listed by TIME Magazine as one of the top 100 young-adult books of all time. Alabama Moon was made into a 2009 feature film starring John Goodman.

Personal life

Watt Key is a graduate of Bayside Academy in Daphne, Alabama and received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Birmingham–Southern College in Birmingham, Alabama. He earned his Masters of Business Administration from Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama. While working as a computer programmer, he began submitting novels to publishers in New York City. When he was 34, he sold his debut novel, Alabama Moon, to publisher Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Watt currently lives with his wife and three children in Mobile, Alabama.

Awards and honors

Published works

Novels and collections

Memoir, essays

Screenplays