“The sun was going down behind the Big Burger when the alligator came flying in the drive-through window.”

When a book opens with a sentence like that it can only mean one thing. God help us, they’re back. Yep, Serge A. Storms & his perma-stoned sidekick Coleman are on the road again, embarking on a literary tour of Florida. It goes without saying there will be some speed bumps along the way…you know, just the usual stuff. Angry monkeys, drug dealers, a hermit, sex toys with GPS…the mundane things we all deal with on a daily basis.

Dorsey has been described as Carl Hiaasen on acid. Both write novels that are hilarious, fast paced & full of colourful characters they employ to highlight the state’s constant battle between greedy developers & environmentalists. But Dorsey turns it up to eleven. Serge, his certifiable MC, is a true original & in this outing we get to see how he & Coleman became the terrors of Florida’s backroads. In part one we meet them as children growing up in the more idyllic 1960’s & follow Little Serge’s adventures which include meeting the Pope. No, not that one.

Another thread set in the same time frame introduces the Pope of Palm Beach. Darby Pope is a legendary surfer & all around zen guy much admired in his community. When he takes a young boy named Kenny under his wing, it’s the start of a life long friendship that unfolds in alternate chapters. The story line is funny & poignant & provides a counter balance to zany violence of Serge & Coleman’s road trip.

As the significance of Darby & Kenny’s friendship becomes clear, it’s inevitable the 2 time lines will collide in the present. Aaaand we’re off. They join forces to fight back against skanky criminals intent on settling an old score. Mayhem ensues & some is not for the faint of heart. But you have to hand it to Serge. He may be a killer but he dispatches bad guys in ways you could never imagine.

It’s a wild, violent & completely bonkers vehicle that allows the author to toss satirical barbs at the politicians & policy that are destroying Florida’s fragile ecosystem. And whether you’re giggling or gasping, you’ll learn the history & culture of Florida they never taught in school as you ride shotgun with this deranged duo.

Magic Tree House series are great books to encourage imagination and learn about social studies and science. In this particular book, Jack and Annie go back to medieval times and explore a castle and receive help from a knight, but who is the knight? I loved this series as a child and cannot wait to use this in my classroom. I would use this book when studying medieval times and knights. 

5 Stars

Lexile: 500L

Mary Pope Osborne has shaped the sense of adventure of two generations of children, and, not unlike the main characters, it was all from the touch of a book. The Magic Treehouse series is on the 2nd grade reading level and is excellent for an option of independent reading as well as working towards a reading goal.

Ancient curses...family feuds...finding a happily ever after can be a real nightmare for the modern witch.

DARKANGEL:
As the future prima, or head witch of her clan, Angela McAllister is expected to bond with her consort, her soul mate, during her twenty-first year, thus ensuring that she will come into her full powers at the appointed time. The clock is ticking down, and her consort has yet to make an appearance. Instead, her dreams are haunted by a man she’s never seen, the one she believes must be her intended match. But with time running out, and dark forces attempting to seize her powers for their own, Angela is faced with a terrible choice: give up her dreams of the man she may never meet and take the safer path, or risk leaving her clan and everyone in it at the mercy of those who seek their ruin.

DARKNIGHT:
Kidnapped by a rival witch clan, Angela McAllister envisions a dark future for herself until she discovers her captor’s brother is the unknown man who has haunted her dreams since she was a child. Forced to re-evaluate everything she’s ever known about the Wilcox witches, Angela begins to explore the powerful connection that binds her to Connor Wilcox, despite the generations of hostility between their families and the disapproval of those closest to her. And when a dark, malignant force arises, Angela knows she must draw on her growing powers as prima to protect enemies and allies alike...even if her choice threatens to tear her new and fragile love apart.

DARKMOON:
One hundred and fifty years ago, a terrible curse descended on the Wilcox clan, dooming generations of women to an early death should they bear a child to the bloodline of Jeremiah Wilcox. Now Angela McAllister is carrying Connor Wilcox’s child, and if she can’t find a way to break the curse, that same doom will fall upon her. The solution to her dilemma lies somewhere in the past—her own, and that of the woman who cast the curse so many years before. Angela’s quest to find the answers she needs will transform the lives of everyone she knows, Wilcox and McAllister alike, and will forever change everything she has ever believed about herself. 

This is the first book in the Magic Treehouse series, that follows Jack and Annie as they discover a magic treehouse that will take them to places in different books. In this story, Jack and Annie find themselves in prehistoric days walking among the dinosaurs. Jack and Annie encounter many different creatures before they meet a T-Rex and decide that it's time to go home. 

This book is filled with dinosaur vocabulary and would be great to use in a science integrated lesson about dinosaurs. Students could pick one of the dinosaurs mentioned and read a teacher picked article on that dinosaur. The students could then present the information that they learned to the class.

Fountas and Pinnell Level M