4 Stars

When Carl Hiassen writes a young adult books it automatically goes on my must read list. I skipped over other books to pick up this bright yellow title and I was not disappointed. Wahoo (not named after the fish) is the son of an animal wrangler. His father was hit in the head by a frozen iguana and has been sick ever since. The family needs the money so Wahoo talks his dad into taking an assignment with Expedition Survival. Who knew those survival shows are faked? But that is what Wahoo and his father help Derek Badger do. Derek Badger is a celebrity survivalist who is just a big phony. After and alligator attack (all Derek’s fault) he decides to do everything “for real” with no more faking. So dad, Wahoo and his new friend Tuna (she is named after a fish and is running away from a drunken dad) pack their bags and head out to the Everglades. The biggest question off all is who will come out alive? This book was just fun to read. You get the emotional connection with the characters, but also the laugh out loud moments, and the things that just make you want to force kids to read this title.