Chomp by Carl Hiaasen

The Cray's wildlife refuge is slowly going broke after an injury prevents Wahoo's father, Mickey, from working. But soon he is hired to provide wild animals for reality star Derek Badger show. Derek isn't making friends with any of the animals especially when he decides to wrestle with an alligator, two snakes and a bat. After being chomped on by various animals, Derek finally runs away into Florida's everglades. Wahoo and his friend Tuna are now looking for the missing star. But how long a fake reality star survive in the wilderness by himself? And Tuna's father, who is chasing after them with his gun, isn't making it any easier on them.

Like Carl Hiaasen's other novels such as Hoot and Flush, Chomp shows great concern for the environment. The setting is wonderful, the everglades is known for its various and rather exotic animals. I loved reading the descriptions for the animals and the wilderness. This book has the perfect balance of seriousness and comedy. While the conflict between Tuna and her father is very serious, Derek Badger's  adventures by himself give the novel a fun and lighter feel. Especially when Derek thinks that he is turning into a vampire after he is bitten by a bat. It's definitely worth reading.

The characters are really important. Derek Badger is a hilarious and stereotypical reality star. You can clearly tell that he has no idea what he is doing by the way that he treats the animals. Wahoo and Tuna are very similar characters and not only because they both were named after fish. Wahoo is very heroic even though it doesn't seem like it at the beginning. But once he tries to help Tuna, you can tell that he is a really brave person.