This one was quite a ride! It takes place in the world of Carl Hiaasen and in many ways, it reminded me of a Hiaasen novel with its quirky characters and the ecological problems in Florida, however, there the similarities end. This book was very murky and creepy and did not contain any of the humor of a Hiaasen story. It reminded me more of "To Kill a Mockingbird" or "Night of the Hunter" given that both of these novels were set in the South and told from the perspective of a young person. Overall, the story kept me interested -- especially Ava's sojourn in the swamp in search of Oceola and her adventures with the "Bird-man". In the last half of the book, the chapters alternated between Ava's story and Kiwi's life as a mainlander. Kiwi's story to me was less interesting and I was anxious to get on with Ava's adventure to the "underworld". One other picky comment was that I thought the author was a little wordy and pretentious -- I don't think a 12-year old girl who had not gone to school would be using some of the language that was used. But overall, I would recommend this one!
