about the book
Because Wahoo is named after a wrestler, everyone expects him to be loud and crazy. Well, who wouldn’t be crazy after growing up with his dad, the famed animal wrangler Mickey Cray, who runs a wildlife refuge and supplies animals for films?
Life becomes even crazier when Wahoo’s dad gets bonked on the head by a frozen six-foot long iguana toppling out of a palm tree. Now Mickey suffers from double vision and horrible headaches. For months he’s been unable to work and the family is financially desperate.
It helps that mom is in Shanghai, teaching Mandarin Chinese to U.S. executives. But that leaves Wahoo to care for his dad and their menagerie, which includes everything from a bald eagle and a bobcat, to mega pythons and huge ‘gators. When the people from the television show “Expedition Survival” call and offer big bucks for an alligator and a snake, Mickey can’t turn down the questionable gig.
But he should have. Wahoo is having trouble keeping Mickey from killing the bumbling star, Derek Badger. The premise is that Derek parachutes into the Everglades with no supplies, lives on bugs, tangles with all sorts of dangerous animals, and hikes out. The actor believes his own hype, that he is animal expert and ultimate survivalist!
When Derek gets bitten and disappears into the swamp, the crew that goes after him ends up lost, too. Now it’s up to Wahoo and his classmate Tuna, to go find them. All they have to do is find the missing people while avoiding the wild alligators and huge snakes…and Tuna’s abusive gun-toting dad!
about the author
Newbery Honor winner Carl Hiaasen has written four books for children and published 16 adult novels. His books, many environmental thrillers, have been translated into 34 languages. He’s also known for his satirical works and sport themes.
Carl is also a journalist. He started doing investigative reporting for the Miami Herald, specializing in exposing property development and construction schemes that were harming Florida’s ecology. He now writes a column that appears each Sunday in the editorial/opinion section of the Herald.
In addition to writing for the Herald, he has written award-winning articles for Sports Illustrated, Time, Life, Esquire, and Gourmet. He also worked with British theater producers creating a musical adaption of his bestseller, Lucky You.
Carl, the oldest of four children, was born, raised, and still lives in Florida. Of Norwegian heritage, his father was a lawyer and his mother a teacher. He studied journalism at Emory University but got his bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida. He won a Newbery honor for his book, Hoot.
Source:
Author website
Also by Carl Hiaasen:
Skink : No Surrender. Knopf Books for Young Readers. 2014.
Scat. Alfred A. Knop. 2009.
Flush. Alfred A. Knopf. 2005.
Hoot. Alfred A. Knopf. 2002.
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