Swamplandia! by Karen Russell
by Sam Arnold-Boyd on Jul.17, 2011, under Adventure, Grief, Legend, Real life, Sam's Reviews
Who would like this book? Mature readers, grades 8 through adult, interested in a challenging family saga set in the Florida Everglades.
Why? Ava Bigtree, 12, learned to wrestle alligators from her larger-than-life mother, the star of their family’s tourist attraction on one of the Ten Thousand Islands in the Everglades. When her mother dies from cancer, the family cannot function and Swamplandia! begins to go under. Ava’s father, Chief Bigtree, leaves for “fundraising” on the mainland. Her older brother Kiwi, frustrated by his father’s failure, also leaves, taking a job at the World of Darkness, Swamplandia!’s competition on the mainland. Left with her older sister Osceola on their island, Ava tries to come to grips with the Bigtree family’s new reality. Her main problem, though, is Osceola’s infatuation with a ghost. The mystic merges with reality for Osceola, and when she elopes into the swamp with her ghost lover, Ava feels compelled to rescue her. The mission is a descent into the Underworld with her “guide” (or devil?) Bird Man. The book follows the stories of each of the characters, but the main focus is Ava’s horrific journey in the swamp. Layered with significance and brilliant in its prose, this book is for the reader who seeks to be a writer. Written for adults (one minor character uses profanity regularly), Swamplandia! is a coming-of-age story that offers a full meal to mature middle school readers: exquisite setting, complex plot, vivid characterization, and luscious style.
The details: 315 p. 2011 Review by Samrarian
