Swamplandia!

Swamplandia! (2011) by Karen Russell. This is a pretty remarkable book, starting with the locale: Swamplandia! is the name of an amusement park in the Florida Everglades owned and operated by the Bigtree family. The featured attraction is alligators, which are wrestled by members of the Bigtree clan. Sadly, the mother of the family has died about a year ago, and the children are bereft -- not to mention, she was the star of the show and the theme park is in decline ever since her loss. The children -- Kiwi, the son; and Osceola and Ava, the daughters -- deal with her loss in their own particular ways. It's a strange and rather wonderful book, with each of the kids going on a quest of one kind or another, and all ending up, miraculously, back together and safe. A very enjoyable read. Grade: A-