Skink--No Surrender

Skink - No Surrender, by Carl Hiaasen is a great book filled with action and many life lessons. This book is very good with many cliff hangers so it will keep you entertained and waiting to see what happens next. If you like action you will like this book. The characters are kind of odd but that's why I like the book. This book is all about life lessons, for example the action centers around Malley , a teenage girl who sneaks out and gets into a lot of trouble. She is supposed to be sent to a boarding school and instead she meets a man online named T.C., who she believes will save her from going to the school. Without spoiling the story, the plot makes teenagers aware that meeting of with strangers from online can be dangerous. The main character, Skink, is a great example of caring and courage. He is a crazy character that looks out for animals and human rights. He was once the governor of Florida and is a natural survivalist. The story takes place in Florida and travels up the West Coast. The book has a lot of nature/environmental facts, about Florida , which also makes it interesting to read. The main character, Richard, is Malley's cousin and this is his adventure to get his cousin back and out of danger. He is a teenager and travels with Skink.. He has had some hard times, but he learns from Skink to trust and never give up. I had to read this book for my seventh grade class, and I also live in Florida. I was able to connect with the characters, the setting, and the plot. It was a very good novel, and I would highly recommend this book if you enjoy adventure, suspense, and nature.

Because this is a YA (Young Adult) novel, there is a good deal less gross violence in Skink than in the other Hiaasen novels, though there is still a good deal of knocking about and shooting) and the narrative is more straight-forward than usual, This is an adventure story evolving as a teen’s coming of age, even learning to drive—utilizing Steinbeck’s East of Eden as part of his training! (There are also salutary references to Rachel Carson’s environmental powerhouse Silent Spring which might send some younger readers back to a book which has not lost it’s power).Reading Skink No Surrender is a vacation; even if the vacation is spent largely in the swampy marshes of the Choctawhatchee basin, jumping with mosquitos and rife with alligators, even if the destination is a ratty old houseboat populated by nasty little Terwyn Crossley a devious rascal posing as Talbo Chock, the former abducting unwilling hostage Malley, a strong willed young woman with attitude to spare. I had a reading vacation full of near-death adventure, thrilling rescues, and mainly, pages and pages of Clinton Tyree, aka Skink.(I wonder much Hiaasen works at crafting names like Terwyn Crossley so as not to offend any actual living creature who might coincidentally bear such a moniker)Hiaasen neatly captures the voice and attitudes of his burgeoning hero, a young man who readily admits some of his failings (“there’s no Off switch in my imagination”) but whose imagination can conjure up Lola’s Chariot in seconds, and whose courage strengthens his resolve and slowly comes to understand his mother’s clueless second husband, who cluelessly slices brown bananas on the kid's cereal.Richard is a frank, unassuming hero, a likeable kid with little pretension and a developing value system worthy of emulation. His pal Malley, the headstrong and often difficult young woman who resists parental interference, is nonetheless shown to be crafty, intelligent and resourceful, even if a little naïve (which certainly dovetails nicely with her shaky bravado), who can find an FM station that is “Bieber-free.” (a reference that is bound to date quicker than references to, say, An American Tragedy in Horsefeathers).Although the short novel is considered “YA,” most of the expected Hiaasen themes are peppered through the book—environmental concerns, a raging intolerance of litterbugs, a consuming concern for wild things (turtle eggs, rare woodpeckers, blue herons), and an eye for the ragtag individuals that make life interesting—whether the mysterious friend of Skink’s, Officer Tile, who, like Skink himself, materializes when needed, or gar man Nickel, chugging up and down the river on a makeshift boat piled with rotting fish.The vivid setting of the river shore, relatively limited as it is, also creates a believable world in which the kids can struggle with that nasty piece of work called Tommy Chalmers (AKA Talbo Chock), as does Skink, who queries:“Son, why’d you shoot at that lovely bird?...The only acceptable excuse would be a brain injury. Are you afflicted in such a way?”“Shut your trap!” Tommy growled.Those of us who know the author appreciate that Tommy, one way or another, is probably not long for this world. As he does so often, Hiaasen vividly sets up villains who will get just comeuppance before the book is finished. And we can hardly wait. (I did think it odd that young Chalmers didn’t shoot his gun when presented with challenges so frequently by both Skink and the kids, but given his scattered consciousness, the question is moot).And then there’s the real hero, the titular Skink, who appears in his vivid best in a surprise appearance emerging of out of the Choctawhatchee:He had emerged from the river “seeping tooth wounds in his neck, a partial bite imprint on one shoulder, a grid of vivid welts on his chest that matched the armored ridges of the reptile’s tail…sopping and crowned with slimy hydrilla weeds that made him look like some sort of demented sea monarch. Among the sprigs of his beard dangled moist purplish leeches, several of which had attached to his hide-like cheeks….his fake eyeball must have popped out, because the socket was now plugged with a glossy brown snail’s shell….”It’s easily Hiaasen’s most vivid description of our Hero in any of the novels, and makes the YA novel worth reading for that reason alone.

As usual, Mr. Hiaasen writes humorously and captivatingly. It’s a light read and you can’t wait for the next page!

This action/ suspense novel is both entertaining and educational. Embedded in the story are interesting facts about Florida flora and fauna.The good characters are very likable and the bad ones you feel sorry for. All the characters are interestingly diverse. Though the story takes surprising twists and turns, it’s very believable.The content is young adult friendly. 4th graders on up would enjoy this story. I’m 69 and I did. It’s suspenseful and full of action. The book shows how interesting people don’t always come in neat and tidy packages. The true value of things that money can’t buy , loving and caring for nature, and not judging a book by its cover are themes that run through the story. I read this in one sitting. It’s a good book. I have enjoyed everything that Carl Hiaasen has written.

Received the book, maybe be I didn't see it was used, but someone had gone through the book and marked out words. Guessing they didn't like them? Anyway, it was a bit of a downer that someone decided for others what isn't appropriate. Seems like some people think everyone should think alike. Anyway, the book is good, as are all of his books. Would have given 5 stars, but didn't like feeling as if I was not informed of the book's condition.

To read Hiaasen again and again. What wonderful storytelling! Funny, warm, just exciting enough and characters that pop from the pages.

Different but interesting book. Another gift for my husband. Enjoyed the book.

A classic Hiaasen story seen through a teenager 's eyes. I couldn't put it down. If you like this author, you'll like the book even though it's tone is softer and there is less humour.

Started reading this last night and finished today. Just could not put it down. Got a couple more downloaded, can't wait to start them.

Scatに続き、カール・ハイアセン２冊目です。自然や動物を愛する登場人物が活躍し、スカッとします。不死身のおじいちゃんヒーロー“スキンク”の物語がまた読みたいなー。