Squirm by Carl Hiaasen

Young Llama Thoughts
  • Adventurous
  • Christian Friendly
  • Easy Reading
  • Humerous
  • Youth Appropriate
Overall
3.9 Llamas

Review

I had just rediscovered this series and was loving it! Chomp is perfection, Scat was amazing; however Squirm was a bit disappointing… (Still re-reading Hoot but that one was pretty good)

This book is about Billy, a snake obsessed kid who has lived all over due to his mothers obsession with Eagle nests. However, when Billy finds his dad address (the dad who abandoned his family years ago by the way!) he hops on a flight to Montana to find him. But he wasn’t expecting to find poachers, drones, grizzly bears, panthers, snakes and a whole lot of trouble…

The novel was pretty good. It had adventure, danger, suspense and a whole lot of fun!.. However it wasn’t really about snakes… There are like under 10 snakes really mentioned in the book. And for a book called Squirm with a snake on the front, that’s a bit disappointing.

There is also some violence mentioned. Mentions of guns, bullets, stuff getting shot, illegal poaching, attempted murder and such. There is also some cursing in the book, sadly. Not a lot, about 15 curse words. As well as some mentions of guys getting hit in a sensitive spot and Billy gets a nick name Big Stick which is a Crow Nation name not something inappropriate. On top of all that, there is also a page about how the kid doubts God because there is bad stuff in the world. So… not my favorite read…

Overall, I was a bit disappointed in this novel. The focus was on grizzly bears and panthers not snakes. And I just liked the other books better! This novel would be good for kids 8 and up; but I like the other books waaayy better. Adios! -The Young Llama Reader.

Pros

  • A really fun adventure for kids 8 and up!!!
  • Funny, adventurous and clean!

Cons

  • Mention of poachers and violence…
  • Some curse words…

A wildly entertaining adventure involving snakes, grizzlies, a menacing drone, a missing father, and the kid determined to find him. In classic Hiaasen fashion, the animals here are wild, and the people are wilder!

Some facts about Billy Dickens:
*  He once saw a biker swerve across the road in order to run over a snake.
*  Later, that motorcycle somehow ended up at the bottom of a canal.
*  Billy isn’t the type to let things go.
Some facts about Billy’s family:
*  They’ve lived in six different Florida towns because Billy’s mom insists on getting a house near a bald eagle nest.
*  Billy’s dad left when he was four and is a total mystery.
*  Billy has just found his dad’s address–in Montana.

This summer, Billy will fly across the country, hike a mountain, float a river, dodge a grizzly bear, shoot down a spy drone, save a neighbor’s cat, save an endangered panther, and then try to save his own father.

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