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• A professional animal wrangler in South Florida and his son work with a difficult survival television show host. Funny writing, a really good story, and all characters are important to the plot. Also has a great ending.

  5.00 out of 5

  SebastianHagelstein

• One of my favorite places to visit is the Florida Everglades. It is only a few hours south of where I live, and a place I consider to be extremely beautiful and dangerous. There is a particular tourist attraction that takes customers on an airboat ride. My first trip with them was thrilling because we had someone with a Steve Irwin personality. He loved describing everything; birds, plants, gators, the whole eco-system of the Everglades. The highlight was getting to hold a live alligator. When I was given the opportunity to read and review Chomp by Carl Hiaasen I was so excited. It had gators, reality TV, and the Florida Everglades. In my mind it was everything you could ask for in a book.The story starts off funny, with a serious undertone that runs through it. Wahoo’s father has been unable to work since a frozen iguana fell from a tree and hit him in the head causing a concussion. His mother has picked up the slack. Now she has been called out of the country to teach her clients for a few months. With their finances in a mess she takes the job, leaving her husband and the zoo in Wahoo’s hands. Shortly after she leaves, Wahoo’s dad receives a call from “Expedition Survival” wanting to use some of their animals in their reality TV show. Wahoo’s father Mickey accepts and tries his hardest to work through his pain. Then he meets Derek, the biggest jerk. Derek was one of those characters that you will love to hate. He is so full of himself as a star that he thinks when he snaps his fingers people should jump. He makes decisions that could get him killed just because he believes what everyone on the show tells him. This puts not only himself in danger, but also those around him.I loved Wahoo’s character. He not only truly cares about the animals but about people. The story is full of bullies. Derek bullies everyone on his show into doing what he wants. Tuna’s father is the biggest bully of all. Tuna is the young girl who shows up to hide from her abusive father. We get a good look at reality TV and it makes you wonder how real it is. Like Hiaasen’s previous books, “Hoot”, “Flush”, and “Scat”, we find environmental themes running throughout this book. It is another great book to add to the shelf, to your collection of books by this great author. I can’t wait to put this on my shelf at school. The timing could not be better. We are currently reading “Flush” as a class. I know I will have students “chomping at the bit”.

  5.00 out of 5

  skstiles612

• Book Title: "Chomp”Author: Carl HiaasenPublished By: Self-PublishedAge Recommended: 10+Reviewed By: Kitty BullardRaven Rating: 5Review: I am one hundred fifty percent a Carl Hiaasen fan and will definitely be picking up the rest of his books. This particular story had it all, humor, drama, excitement and adventure. His writing is superb and his characters come alive, jumping right off the page to dance around in the readers head. There is no doubt he is one of the greatest middle grade/children’s writers of all time. ‘Chomp’ takes place primarily in the Florida Everglades, the story of Mickey Cray and his son Wahoo is one you will fall in love with. After deciding to take on a job with a popular wildlife television show in which their animals will be featured the Cray’s end up in far more of an adventure than they bargained for. Working for the ridiculously insane Derek Badger, they come across some real animals that want to take a bit out of him. With a twist and surprise ending you’ll never suspect, ‘Chomp’ is a book you’ll want to read over and over again and your kids will love it too! I recommend this title highly and any kid that loves adventure, excitement and no mushy stuff in a book will definitely enjoy this wonderfully written story!

  5.00 out of 5

  GreatMindsThinkAloud

• I love Hiaasen's books! BUT - "Chomp" is the best one yet. There is such a great deal of character development in this book. And all the characters are just that - characters! This is a romp in the swamp with some of the dumbest people anyone would ever write about and all taking place in the Everglades with tons of wild critters just waiting for a snack. Hard to come up with a basic plotline but suffice it to say that this is the story of Wahoo Cray and his dad Mickey. Both are wild animal wranglers and have just signed on to help out on an Everglades episode of a reality TV program called "Expedition Survivor" hosted by the biggest lame brain in tv world. Can the two manage to keep Derek Badger alive despite himself? Add to the mix a young girl named Tuna and her abusive, gun wielding dad (who isn't 'the brightest bulb on the tree') as well as a tourist shop owner and airboat builder named Link - a man whose weight exceeds his intelligence. Oh, I forgot to mention the vampires. This is wild animal kingdom at its most humorous.

  5.00 out of 5

  kbarnes

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