Meet Bingo and J’miah, raccoon brothers on a mission to save Sugar Man Swamp in this tale from Newbery Honoree Kathi Appelt.
Raccoon brothers Bingo and J’miah are the newest recruits of the Official Sugar Man Swamp Scouts. The opportunity to serve the Sugar Man—the massive creature who delights in delicious sugar cane and magnanimously rules over the swamp—is an honor, and also a big responsibility, since the rest of the swamp critters rely heavily on the intel of these hardworking Scouts.
Twelve-year-old Chap Brayburn is not a member of any such organization. But he loves the swamp something fierce, and he’ll do anything to help protect it.
And help is surely needed, because world-class alligator wrestler Jaeger Stitch wants to turn Sugar Man swamp into an Alligator World Wrestling Arena and Theme Park, and the troubles don’t end there. There is also a gang of wild feral hogs on the march, headed straight toward them all.
The Scouts are ready. All they have to do is wake up the Sugar Man. Problem is, no one’s been able to wake that fellow up in a decade or four…
Newbery Honoree and National Book Award finalist Kathi Appelt presents a story of care and conservation, funny as all get out and ripe for reading aloud.
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“Kathi Appelt can tell a story…Her
mastery of pacing and tone makes for wonderful reading aloud, even to children
who would happily take on a relatively long novel on their own. There is music
in her prose…Even as the plot heats up, Appelt keeps the humor coming…Appelt
ties up all these threads neatly in a triumphant and unexpected confrontation
of good and evil. Will Bingo and J’Miah face their fears? Will Chap save his
mother’s livelihood and their home? And where is the Sugar Man, anyway?
Librarians often say that every book is not for every child, but The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp
is.”
—
New York Times Book Review