Swamplandia! is the story of Ava Bigtree, a 12-year-old alligator wrestler who embarks on an improbable journey through the mangrove wilderness of southwest Florida in search of a lost sister. Young Osceola has run off with a ghost-figure named Louis Thanksgiving, and only Ava knows where to look for them, dreading what she might find. Theres not a forgettable character in the cast, from Avas flamboyant father, Chief Bigtree, who runs the familys failing tourist trap, to the bedraggled and cryptic Bird Man, who guides Ava on her harrowing trip. .

"This is a Borzoi book"--T.p. verso.