Swamplandia!

by Karen Russell

Our story begins in the Florida Everglades. Swamplandia is a real place, an amusement park dedicated to the swamps of Florida and their creatures. Owned and run by the Bigtree family, Swamplandia has seen better days. No on seems too interested in gator wrestling anymore. Additionally, the park’s headliner (and mother of the Bigtree children) has just died. What’s a family to do?

• Chief Bigtree will head to the mainland to find financing for his next great project,

• Ava, our narrator, will try to cope with all of the craziness,

• Kiwi, Ava’s older brother, will also travel to the mainland to get a job and contribute to the family’s finances, and

• Osceola, Ava’s older sister, will go over the deep end.

The characters are Dickensian, the setting is oh so Hiaasen, and summer-long journey of the Bigtree family is straight out of Dante.

Sad, hilarious, and strange, Russell’s novel is certainly unique. Unfortunately, it starts out strongly and quickly loses its momentum.

3/22/11