A Review of Skink-No Surrender by Carl Hiaasen

Best Airport Read Ever!

Next time you're stuck in an airport, let me suggest Skink-No Surrender by Carl Hiaasen as a little ointment for the traveling blues. For starters, Skink was written for young adults, so the print is nice and big. More importantly, it was penned by one of the best satirists of our time http://www.carlhiaasen.com/

Let me be the first to say I'm not exactly the person you want to find yourself sitting next to in an airport, or worse, an airplane. “Nauseous Flier” would be a severely understated description of my traveling habits. Generally speaking, I like to “enjoy” the time leading up to the flight by washing down fistfuls of Dramamine with gallons of Sprite Zero (the irony that I can't sit still for five seconds yet suffer from motion sickness hasn't escaped me).

My flight home from San Francisco over the holidays started out in the usual way (weird breathing exercises plus the aforementioned over-the-counter anti-retching pills). Then, I retrieved my new copy of Skink-No Surrender from my travel bag. Carl Hiaasen can't pump out his novels quickly enough for me, so when a new one arrives, I like to savor it. In this case, however, I had a lengthy wait so I decided to dip into my satirical stash.

Two pages into Skink, I was cackling like an old crone.  My Sprite Zero lay unmolested on the seat next to me and the Dramamine pills became a distant memory. Thirty pages later, I noticed the airport was getting full, yet there remained a wide bert around the place where I was sitting. Apparently, if you chortle like a loon, others are reluctant to penetrate your circle.

I was so engrossed in Skink that by the time I was on the plane I had forgotten all about having to hold down my lunch for dear life. There was nothing my fellow passengers could do to about my involuntary guffaws, but I tried to keep my laughter down to a dull roar as I returned home to Utah.

Adults may be familiar with Hiaasen's best-sellers including Tourist Season, Sick Puppy, and Basket Case. More recently, Hiaasen has turned his attention to young adults, which serves us all well. I hate to sound like a Grumpy Granny (I don't even have kids or grandchildren), but young people just don't read enough. It's not that kids don't like to read, it's just that many haven't discovered the writers who will truly entertain them. Hiaasen's books are not only knee-slappers, they also contain some important environmental messages. But don't take my word for it, read this review from the the School Library Journal http://www.amazon.com/Skink-No-Surrender-Carl-Hiaasen/dp/0375870512

Because an otherwise miserable flight turned into an adventure for me, I'm awarding Carl Hiaasen five stars for Skink-No Surrender on my Goodreads Page https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4673038.Adele_Park

If you'd like to hear Hiaasen describe Skink-No Surrender in his own words, check this out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccJGUEPlU5Y