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    Chomp
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    Chomp
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    Chomp
    Audiobook6 hours

    Chomp

    Written by Carl Hiaasen

    Narrated by James Van Der Beek

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    The hysterical #1 New York Times bestseller from Newbery honoree Carl Hiaasen featuring gators, snakes, bats that bite, and reality show hosts gone wild!

    When Wahoo Cray’s dad—a professional animal wrangler—takes a job with a reality TV show called Expedition Survival!, Wahoo figures he’ll have to do a bit of wrangling himself to keep his father from killing Derek Badger, the show’s inept and egotistical star. But the job keeps getting more complicated: Derek Badger insists on using wild animals for his stunts; and Wahoo’s acquired a shadow named Tuna—a girl who’s sporting a shiner courtesy of her father and needs a place to hide out.

    They’ve only been on location in the Everglades for a day before Derek gets bitten by a bat and goes missing in a storm. Search parties head out and promptly get lost themselves. And then Tuna’s dad shows up with a gun . . .

    It’s anyone’s guess who will actually survive Expedition Survival. . .

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateMar 27, 2012
    ISBN9780307916419
    Unavailable
    Chomp
    Author

    Carl Hiaasen

    Carl Hiaasen (b. 1953) is the New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of more than twenty adult and young adult novels and nonfiction titles, including the novels Strip Tease (1993) and Skinny Dip (2004), as well as the mystery-thrillers Powder Burn (1981), Trap Line (1982), and A Death in China (1984), which were cowritten with fellow Miami Herald journalist Bill Montalbano (1941–1998). Hiaasen is best known for his satirical writing and dark humor, much of which is directed at various social and political issues in his home state of Florida. He is an award-winning columnist for the Miami Herald, and lives in Vero Beach.

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    Reviews for Chomp

    4/5

    283 ratings47 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Wahoo is hands down one of my favorite leading lads. For such a young boy, he is remarkably caring and his concern extends not just to his friends and family, but those in need, no matter if they are two, four, or more legged. Speaking of the two-legged variety…our friend Tuna is a special gal too, though her life has been turbulent in far more dire ways than Wahoo’s; considering he basically lives in a wildlife rehabilitation center, that’s REALLY saying something. Let’s just say Tuna’s Dad is WAY less than worthy of the title. Thank goodness Wahoo and his dad are there to lend a hand…even if things do get a wee more than dicey as the story moves along.

      Rolling along with the river ripples, we would be negligent if we left out the team that is Extreme Survival…mainly shining the spotlight on Derek of course. He’s the STAR of the show. You know, the main man, the top banana, the one who actually does all the survival practices that are showcased on his amazing show…or wait, maybe not. He manages to tick off the semi-friendly croc that resides at the Cray’s residence and get “attacked” by a bat…which if you know anything about wildlife, you know their bites carry A LOT of disease...QUITE entertaining in this case. ^-^


      It’s a deceptively hard hitting book with an ending satisfying on many levels. The writing allows readers to visit Florida without ever driving South. Inside the pages you’ll get swept away by the danger the Everglades and the people in them have to offer, caught up in the emotions, revel in the respect shown for animals and habitats (by most at least) and cheer on the good guys when the cheering is good. There’s a little something for every reader whether boy or girl, young or young at heart, and a few valuable lessons to walk away with as well.

      ****review copy received in exchange for my honest review...full post can be seen on my site***
    • 5/5
      Enjoy a story about a family of animal wranglers in Florida dealing with a 'reality' show. I have always enjoyed Carl Hiaasen as an author. He portrays 'real' people with real problems. I always enjoy that the people get what is coming to them.
    • 5/5
      I love CH's young adult stuff. Always a fun way to pass the time.
    • 4/5
      Hiassen's characters are starting to feel woefully recycled; a loser father waiting for his ship to come in, wise-beyond-their-years children forced to grow up too soon, socially-awkward eco-hero protagonists, a mother who's at her wits-end with her husband's ineptitude...That being said, the plot was still good. I greatly enjoyed watching the events unfold in completely unexpected ways.
    • 4/5
      I read this book after reading "Hoot" and found it a lot funnier, though not as morally driven. However, Hiaasen manages again to tackle very serious themes in the guise of a satirical story. Both books introduce characters who experience less than stellar family relationships, and the fact that the author makes these characters heroes rather than victims sets him apart from most authors, particularly those who write for young people. The story took longer than I expected to get started, but held my attention all the way to the end. I would definitely pick up another Hiaasen read.
    • 5/5
      Wahoo, the main character, has a father wo is an animal wrangler. His mum has to go to china to get money as wahoo's father, mickey, had been hit on the he'd with a frozen iguana. Wahoo gets a call from a tv show, and they take the job. Unfortunately the host is very stupid and nearly dies but decides to do make it completely wild. Wahoo ends up taking a girl who has an abusive father. Whilst they are in the Everglades the host runs off and the girl, tuna, has her father chasing after her with a gun.
    • 5/5
      Finding a book boys will read is always a pleasure. This has it all: adventure, humor, engaging characters and a little romance.
    • 4/5
      Ok I have a confession to make, and you may all gasp at this........I've never read a Carl Hiaasen book before! I've seen them all and heard about how good they are (Flush, Hoot, Scat), but I just never picked one up to read it. Then this summer I did this program called Camp Read-a-Lot, and Chomp was one of the choices. I decided it was time. And I'm so excited because it was great! Now I can wholeheartedly recommend it to my students.I found this book to be funny, serious, fast-paced and smartly done. It was funny because of the character of Derek Badger. Here is a guy that plays on survivalist on TV but is clearly not one in real life. The problem is - he's believing the hype about himself, so he thinks he can do all kinds of things he can't do. This gets him into one problem after another. I found myself just shaking my head at him but laughing at him too - especially towards the end of the book (but I can't say way or I'd spoil it!). He's written so larger than life that he almost become a caricature of a real person. Thankfully it's kept from getting to crazy and totally unbelievable.I also liked the character of Wahoo (how can you not like a kid name Wahoo). He's such a smart kid - figuring out how to keep his dad, the TV crew and himself - all under control. Over and over again he had to figure out how to keep his dad on the job he was hired to do for the TV show. He had to remain calm when his dad was ranting and ready to walk. You could easily see what Wahoo does has unrealistic, but honestly I could see a kid acting like him especially growing up in the family Wahoo grew up in.I need to talk about the story of Tuna. This is a young girl that Wahoo and his dad end up helping. If there was any part of the story that was unrealistic this might have been it. I like Tuna's story - she's on the run from her dad - but how she ends up with Wahoo's family seemed a bit unrealistic. What I liked was how her mind worked. Wahoo was street smart, but Tuna added the book smart that was often times needed.Lastly I liked the message embedded into the story. It dealt with how we treat the environment. What I liked was that it was clearly there - there was no missing the message - BUT it didn't club you over the head with it in a super preachy way. It just made it clear in a way that you saw the affects of NOT taking care of animals and the land they live on. Well done there!Final thought: I'm glad I got to meet Wahoo and these crazy cast of characters. Enjoyable and smart.For the Guys? Yup for sure. Wahoo is someone boys could relate to, and I think many would enjoy the outdoor aspect of the book.
    • 4/5
      This is a good book about a young boy and his dad who raise animals for tv shows etc.They embark on an adventure with a reality tv show. The story keeps you engaged and wondering what will happen next. I good book for middle school age readers.
    • 5/5
      Book Title: "Chomp”Author: Carl HiaasenPublished By: Self-PublishedAge Recommended: 10+Reviewed By: Kitty BullardRaven Rating: 5Review: I am one hundred fifty percent a Carl Hiaasen fan and will definitely be picking up the rest of his books. This particular story had it all, humor, drama, excitement and adventure. His writing is superb and his characters come alive, jumping right off the page to dance around in the readers head. There is no doubt he is one of the greatest middle grade/children’s writers of all time. ‘Chomp’ takes place primarily in the Florida Everglades, the story of Mickey Cray and his son Wahoo is one you will fall in love with. After deciding to take on a job with a popular wildlife television show in which their animals will be featured the Cray’s end up in far more of an adventure than they bargained for. Working for the ridiculously insane Derek Badger, they come across some real animals that want to take a bit out of him. With a twist and surprise ending you’ll never suspect, ‘Chomp’ is a book you’ll want to read over and over again and your kids will love it too! I recommend this title highly and any kid that loves adventure, excitement and no mushy stuff in a book will definitely enjoy this wonderfully written story!
    • 4/5
      A reality tv show is being filmed in the everglades, and Wahoo and his father have been hired as animal wranglers. Complicating issues are an abused runaway girl, her father, the inept reality show star and a host of quirky South Florida personalities.
    • 4/5
      Mickey and his son Wahoo take care of animals that are used on screen. When reality survival star Derek Badger wants to hire their alligator, Alice, to “wrestle” with for his tv show, Mickey is not impressed with Derek. Even “better” is when Derek decides he wants to really head to the wild in the Everglades to do some filming. Wahoo’s friend, Tuna, who is running from her abusive father, comes along with them. Ah, plenty of humour here, but also frustration with the idiot Derek! (And how he treats the animals… I was right there with Mickey with regard to the annoyance/frustration on that!) Enjoyed the read about how scripted reality shows can be, too. I would actually love to read about these characters again – Mickey and Wahoo, anyway. I really liked them (and how they are with the animals). I listened to the audio narrated by James Van Der Beek, and it was done very well.
    • 4/5
      In this super funny story for tweens, Hiaasen introduces the reader to the super cool adventure dude who is dropped into extreme environments, lives off the land with the help of only his wits and knife. In reality, the adventurer is a highly paid actor with an over-inflated ego, who couldn't survive without his personal assistant. Hair raising adventure, side splitting humor, and never preachy message that you must respect nature.
    • 4/5
      A reality tv show is being filmed in the everglades, and Wahoo and his father have been hired as animal wranglers. Complicating issues are an abused runaway girl, her father, the inept reality show star and a host of quirky South Florida personalities.
    • 4/5
      Wahoo and his father, a professional animal wrangler, take a job with a reality TV show in the Everglades and quickly come to regret it.

      This was a pretty good audiobooks choice for a summer's worth of knife-throwing practice! Lots of muggy swampy nature and the characters are all great, and while the action plot did take awhile to get going, it was perfectly exciting once it did.

      I was constantly distracted by the fact that the most-competent adult character in the book is a long-suffering yet ultracompetent PA by the name of Raven Stark and I kept having to remind myself she *wasn't* Tony and Pepper's kid out proving herself.
    • 4/5
      Wahoo Cray isn't like any other kid - his dad is an animal wrangler and he helps his dad out as often as he can. When his father, Mickey, is contracted to work for the "reality" show Expedition Survival, he knows it's going to be rough since the star of the show is ridiculous, but no one expected their trip into the Everglades to be quite such an expedition for actual survival! I really liked the idea of "reality" TV not being so real - I think it is a concept most people need to think about. There were parts of this book that were quite intense for elementary reading: Tuna's dad is a drunk and drinks quite often throughout the book (he finishes a twelve pack while hunting for his daughter) and holds Mickey at gunpoint - he also shoots an innocent bystander (though no one dies). Derek is also bitten by a bat and goes a little insane thinking he is turning into a vampire. Overall a good story, but there are better survival stories out there.
    • 5/5
      LOVE the author, I have read many of his books (almost all of them) this is just another moral adventure. I really liked the references to bear grylls and how fake all the "adventure" shows on tv are. The names of these characters are hilarious.
    • 3/5
      Wahoo's father Micky was conked on the head by a frozen iguana a few months ago and since then he's been plagued by double vision and head aches and the family has turned down animal wrangling job after animal wrangling job. Until Expedition Survival, a reality television show starring Derek Badger offers Micky and Wahoo more money than they can afford to turn down. Wahoo and Micky end up bringing Tuna along with them as well. Tuna is a classmate of Wahoo's whose father has been beating her up and needs a place to hide out. Unfortunately Derek Badger is not the man everyone see's on the show. He's essentially a spoiled brat that needs to be babysat morning, noon and night so when "the survivalist" gets lost in the Everglades it is a catastrophe of epic proportions. Add to this Tuna's drunk, abusive father running around the Everglades with a gun and almost constant rain and you have to wonder if everyone will survive the weekend.

      I haven't read much by Carl Hiaasen before but I am beginning to think I should give it a try. This book was really funny. Derek Badger and Micky both have strong over the top personalities and it's interesting to see the contrast of the two. They both do crazy things but Micky seems to have a better handle on himself and what the outcomes of his actions will be. Poor Wahoo and Tuna are forced to be the adults in a lot of situations and they do a nice job of drawing your eye to how ridiculous many of the adults are.

      It's not all humor though. Tuna's family situation is discussed at length and it's hard for Wahoo to hear. Watching him struggle with how to help his friend, getting his mother's advice and trying to save her from her father are all heart felt moments. Wahoo has a very hard time wrapping his mind around the idea until he really sees Mr. Gordon's level of crazy up close and personal.

      The Everglades themselves and some of the critters are some of the most amazing characters in the book. The Everglades sound gorgeous and dangerous and it was easy to imagine the island they camped on, the bugs and the treacherous weather.
    • 3/5
      Chomp by Carl Hiaasen is the latest of his tween environmental stories. Wahoo Cray lives with his parents at an Everglades animal rescue center. While Mom is in China, Wahoo has to help Dad try to run the zoo. Dad hasn't been the same since a bad head injury.In the midst of all this chaos, the zoo is hired to provide animals and setting for a "reality" survival show. Wahoo and his Dad need the money but they don't want their animals exploited by Derek Badger, the star of this questionable but popular series.Mixed into this reality TV show mess is a girl named Tuna. She is running fro her abusive, drunk of a father. He won't let her go and he has a gun. No good can come from this situation.Thematically the book is most like Scat with a little bit of Hoot. But it has pacing issues. Too much time is spent on the gags of the reality show and on Badger's ego and stupidity.
    • 5/5
      No matter what age he's writing for, I love the heck out of anything by Carl Hiassen. The eco-consciousness seen in his adult novels is often even more prevalent in his work for young adults, and Chomp is no exception. It's also a magnificent sendup of the fascination with reality television (which, as we know, is actually not real at all).
    • 5/5
      Just like Carl Hiaasen's other books, CHOMP was a thriller. The suspense, the humor, and all of the life learning skills made me want to keep reading.
    • 4/5
      Like so many YA novels, Chomp is larded with messages. For example, are reality shows starring beefcake actors who wouldn't know their way around an alligator swam without an animal handler cheesy and deplorable? How many times do we need to be told instead of shown that Derek Badger besides having a fake name, is fat, coddled and stupid?

      Still, I love Carl Hiassen's books because his cause is the Everglades. He also has the good sense to introduce an intelligent funny girl into the proceedings midway which takes the reader's mind off the redundant characterization of the chief stooge. But the most winning characters at the heart of these books, beginning with Hoot, continuing with Scat, and Flush, are the animals of Florida, including but not limited to alligators, snakes, bats, and other creatures that chomp.

      Still, the humor and warm family feeling Hiaasen specializes in make this new novel a welcome addition to my list.
    • 3/5
      Another funny misadventure in Florida from Hiassen. This book poked fun at reality tv series(that aren't very real)as the star of a survival series goes missing in the Everglades. Well you would think no one would be worried as he is a survivalist isn't he, but no we find out that isn't quite how it happens as chaos erupts and a full scale manhunt ensues. Add to that the loveable characters Wahoo and Tuna, a few other dysfunctional and interesting characters and you have a romping good disaster of a situation.
    • 4/5
      2016 Challenge: Book I've Been Meaning to Read&#9733 &#9733 &#9733 &#9733What an enchanting read.....I ♥ most all of Hiaasen's work: he's honest, irreverent, funny, and takes a look at real environmental issues.Wahoo & his father have a wildlife rescue center in their backyard.... His father has recently suffered a concussion from a frozen iguana that fell out of a tree, and now has headaches & sees double.....They are approached by a reality t.v. show that wants to hire them & their alligator for an Everglades episode.The star of the t.v. show is a total egotistical fake with ideas of grandeur. While filming w/ Alice the tame alligator, the star decides to hop on Alice's back and ends up going for a wild ride...Soon all are on their way to an Everglades tour site, with the addition of Tuna, a run-away schoolmate of Wahoo's whose father has blackened her eye.When her father shows up, even more madcap madness abounds.Well written, fast paced , and entertaining... a good read for pre-teens.
    • 5/5
      the book was awesome
    • 5/5
      I loved the book
    • 5/5
      Book Title: "Chomp”Author: Carl HiaasenPublished By: Self-PublishedAge Recommended: 10+Reviewed By: Kitty BullardRaven Rating: 5Review: I am one hundred fifty percent a Carl Hiaasen fan and will definitely be picking up the rest of his books. This particular story had it all, humor, drama, excitement and adventure. His writing is superb and his characters come alive, jumping right off the page to dance around in the readers head. There is no doubt he is one of the greatest middle grade/children’s writers of all time. ‘Chomp’ takes place primarily in the Florida Everglades, the story of Mickey Cray and his son Wahoo is one you will fall in love with. After deciding to take on a job with a popular wildlife television show in which their animals will be featured the Cray’s end up in far more of an adventure than they bargained for. Working for the ridiculously insane Derek Badger, they come across some real animals that want to take a bit out of him. With a twist and surprise ending you’ll never suspect, ‘Chomp’ is a book you’ll want to read over and over again and your kids will love it too! I recommend this title highly and any kid that loves adventure, excitement and no mushy stuff in a book will definitely enjoy this wonderfully written story!
    • 3/5
      From the book description … “Wahoo Cray lives in a zoo. His father is an animal wrangler, so he's grown up with all manner of gators, snakes, parrots, rats, monkeys, snappers, and more in his backyard. The critters he can handle. His father is the unpredictable one. When his dad takes a job with a reality TV show called "Expedition Survival!", Wahoo figures he'll have to do a bit of wrangling himself—to keep his dad from killing Derek Badger, the show's boneheaded star, before the shoot is over. But the job keeps getting more complicated. Derek Badger seems to actually believe his PR and insists on using wild animals for his stunts. And Wahoo's acquired a shadow named Tuna—a girl who's sporting a shiner courtesy of her old man and needs a place to hide out. They've only been on location in the Everglades for a day before Derek gets bitten by a bat and goes missing in a storm. Search parties head out and promptly get lost themselves. And then Tuna's dad shows up with a gun . . . “

      What can I say about this book except typical Hiaasen. This one is a run through the Everglades with very strange characters and very strange events. Certain authors are known for what they do and this is Carl Hiaasen’s forte.
    • 5/5
      A wonderful narrator makes this humorous adventure tale come alive. llh
    • 4/5
      Grades 5-8:
      When Wahoo's dad, a well-respected animal wrangler, is approached by a reality TV show to provide the animals for the show, Wahoo realizes quickly that it's going to be up to keep some diplomacy in the interactions. His dad, Mickey, doesn't suffer fools gladly, and Derek Badger, the star of Expedition Survival! is not nearly the survivalist that he likes to portray himself as. As Wahoo and Mickey prepare to accompany the crew deep into the Everglades, they pick up a classmate of Wahoo's who is running away from an abusive father. While this story does not have the ecological overtones of Hiaasen's previous YA novels, there's plenty of action, and his tongue-in-cheek portrayal of the foolishness of reality TV shows will be appreciated by his fans. Hiaasen, like Mickey, doesn't suffer fools gladly.