Although my students will grab it up because it’s Carl Hiassen, it didn’t contain the usual depth and humor of his previous books for teens. Students will like the quirky characters, humor, and fast-paced, thriller type crime story and the Key West setting, though.

I liked this book and think it will hook middle grade readers. I will definitely add it to my classroom library and recommend to students who like stories with a strong protagonist and lots of adventure.

Fun story for preteens and early teens. Wrecker lives on Key West, where he has his own boat, a few odd jobs, and trouble with his parents. He accidentally gets involved with smugglers, who smuggle a very unusual item. The descriptions of Key West are beautiful and clear, bringing the island alive as few authors can. I think most young people will enjoy spending time with Wrecker. Thanks to NetGalley, Random House Children's, and Knopf Books for Young Readers for providing an ARC.

This book is supposedly for ages 10 and up but the main characters are 15. The whole story read like pro vaccine propaganda and hit you over the head with it repeatedly. There was some family dynamics that would be interesting to discuss but the mystery was just so so, not interesting, I got bored with it. I honestly don't think a 10 year old would get into this book or any tween for that matter. The ending was wrapped up in a nice bow. However, I think the author missed the boat with this one (pun intended).

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of Wrecker, by Carl Hiaasen. Hiaasen is a must-read author for me and this was a great addition to his body of work. I appreciated the adventure and humor-both musts for the middle grade crowd. Hiaasen is a gem and we should all be thankful he is still churning out great work!

Great MG read about Wrecker, a young teen who adopts the name because his distant relatives salvaged shipwrecks. He accidentally becomes tangled with smugglers and has to figure out the best way to untangle himself without getting killed.

Definitely a quick read, though I struggled through the historical parts, as I wanted to get back to the smuggling!

Takes place during the COVID pandemic and there is quite a bit of concern about receiving the vaccine.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Children's, Knopf Books for Young Readers for this ARC!

I really enjoyed what I read of the book. Sadly i wasn't able to finish. I recomend this book for more mature young adults. The inclusion of the pandemic was an intresting touch but I don't know if future readers will understand the way things were during the pandemic without a backstory, with that said the story as a wole might not hold water with readers in the future, but for now it is a great story; however with graphic information that might be triggers to sensitive readers it best read by the more mature ones.

Once again Carl Hiaasen gives us an outdoor adventure with a strong lead character who has had a challenging life and we learn a bit about Florida's fauna and history. This one takes place in Key West where young Valdez, aka Wrecker, is always on his boat when he isn't on his computer for Zoom classes or cleaning gravestones of iguana poop at night. He doesn't go looking for trouble but finds it when he accidentally comes upon smugglers. He and his unlikely friend Mimi go off on an adventure to figure out what is going on and end up in a bit of danger. Hiaasen's books are always funny, full of adventure and come with a warning to take care of the natural beauty and this one is no different. It does include some tough topics like racism, smugglers and a sad history of KKK, lynchings and bad behavior which is handled well. I would recommend this one for older middle schoolers and young adults. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

Wrecker by Carl Hiaasen is a joy ride of a MG book. I liked this book because I became attached to Wrecker and his adventures with gangsters, a cemetery, a girl who he insists isn’t his girlfriend, his boat which he fishes from, as well as a whole host of quirky characters in his life.

I did find myself skimming the real or made-up history in the book. I personally am not a fan of history in general, so some readers may find this part appealing. I became unnerved and almost didn’t finish when a lynching by the KKK of a black man who lived with a white woman was described in detail.

I’m glad I didn’t give up, as the ending was more than satisfying. As always, I enjoyed the environmental message that Carl Hiaasen has in all his books. This message was about how large cruise ships come to port in Key West and dredge up sediment that kills the reefs. Wrecker’s sister Suzanne is the leader of the resistance group.

Wrecker faces danger much of the time, but like most MG, you know the main character isn’t going to die so I didn’t worry about his fate too much.

I recommend this book to fans of Carl Hiaasen, those who like books full of adventure, and those looking for a good environmental message to learn more about.

Another great Carl Hiaasen title for Middle Grade. I really enjoy the way he pulls the subject matter from the headlines. Wrecker's story takes place after vaccines have become available for the pandemic, but the mistrust in those vaccines creates problems for those refusing to get vaccinated. Never one to ignore environmental issues, Carl Hiaasen's latest story takes on the damage caused by large cruise ships entering fragile shoreline of south Florida. Most of the story is seamless and is an outstanding read.

Wrecker is another hit novel by Carl Hiaasen that will make a great addition to a classroom library. The setting, Florida Keys, is interesting and the story is full of action and fun to read.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this novel.

Once you’ve read one of Carl Hiaasen’s kids books you’ve pretty much read them all, so this is pretty repetitive if you’ve delved into these before. Hiaasen’s adult novels are a lot better than his kids books, though these are entertaining enough and very age appropriate for young readers.

I liked the setting here and the plot was just ok, but it works well enough for a quick read and provides enough excitement without any real scares for a young audience. I didn’t love the pandemic elements of this (forged vaccine cards is something I hoped never to think about again), but the rest was fine.

Thank you to #NetGalley, Carl Hiaasen and the publisher of the book for the eARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

Valdez Jones VIII of Wrecker as he calls himself (because his five great grandfather) use to salvage shipwrecks. One day, Wrecker is asked to by a boat of men stuck to help. When Wrecker can't and offer to help, they pay him not to tell anyone he saw them. Now, Wrecker is seeing them all over Key West. He wants to forget them, but they want him for a lookout and his silence.
Will Wrecker be able to get out of the tangled net they've created?

Carl Hiaasen is an amazing author! His stories are wonderful. I can't wait to add this one to my classroom library!

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC. Carl Hiaasen has another hit with Wrecker. This takes place when Covid is still going on and the debate to be vaccinated or not, lead some people to take advantage and profit from. Wrecker is a great character filled with lots of love and angst. This is a must read for all.

Happy Publication Day to Wrecker and @carl_hiaasen!
Wrecker is another compelling book for middle grade readers by Newbury Honor Winner Carl Hiaasen. The title character, Wrecker is a teen living in Key West with ambitions of salvaging shipwrecks…. Or at least exploring them. Wrecker, aka Valdez Jones, VIII, is from a divorced family with an absentee father, Valdez VII who makes an appearance in the book, but also welcomes some accidental success in the music industry. His mother is remarried living close by and Wrecker lives with his sister.
Wrecker has a part-time job cleaning a headstone in the local cemetery, which he does at night. He encounters some smuggling bandits when they have run their speedy boat aground while he is out fishing. He helps them out and then keeps running into them in the most random places across Key West. Getting tangled up in their lawlessness was not in his plans. He must use his diving, fishing, and boat driving skills to get out of their business.
Wrecker is a well written book that will appeal to middle-grade readers, particularly boys, but also will appeal to girls. The female lead character has some strong personality traits that will endear her to both boys and girls. The book is full of fun, adventure, suspense, and teaches some well intentioned lessons. I appreciate how well the post-Covid Pandemic world was portrayed and made things like masks, virtual school, and vaccinations part of everyday life.
I received an electronic ARC from Random House Children’s Knoph Books for Young Readers through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Wrecker by Carl Hiassen is a novel for teens that presents one of their own as a hero. Wrecker is a fifteen-year-old boy living during the pandemic with his stepsister rather than his mother and his stepfather as they are simply too much. His own biological father left when he was a toddler. Wrecker is entrepreneurial and clever. He is currently doing school remotely so it doesn’t take up much of his time. The rest of his time he spends on his boat. Not odd as he lives on an island in the Florida Keys. He fishes and dreams, mostly. He also has a job which pays $50 a week taking care of a grave. The geckos and other lizards poop wherever they like and they seems to like the cool granite of a flat headstone. The person in the grave is the long-dead sister of an old man who visits every day. She has a story, as does he. Wrecker does this at night when the cemetery is closed and locked, but that doesn’t stand in his way. Being in the cemetery leads him to do all kinds of research about the people he has found there so he spends plenty of time in the library.

Wrecker is a fabulous character. He is the kind of kid who drives teachers nuts. He is so smart that he has plenty of time to get into mischief. Distance learning is perfect for him. His family is odd, to say the least, but they are not bad people. Even his father, when he finally turns up is not a bad person. He calls himself Wrecker as several of his ancestors who dove into the ocean to recover things from sunken ships. He is an amazing character. Well-rounded and well-thought-out. The plot exists but it really takes second place to Wrecker’s adventures in and around the Keys. He doesn’t have lots of friends, but the ones he has are important and he takes care of them. It makes me wonder what his life will be like. I totally recommend this book for anyone who wants to read it, teen or adult.

I was invited to read a free e-ARC of Wrecker by Random House Children’s, through Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #RandomHouseChildrens #CarlHiassen #Wrecker

Thank you to Random House Children's / Knopf Books publishers and NetGalley for inviting me to read this wonderful advanced copy of a Carl Hiaasen novel.

Wrecker is Valdez the Eighth, descendent of the first Valdez who salvaged ruins hundreds of years ago in the Florida Keys. Wrecker unknowingly recuses a criminal whose boat is stuck while Wrecker is fishing. Meanwhile, Wrecker is living with his step sister during the pandemic lockdown. His mother and her father refused to be vaxxed until her father caught Covid and had to be in the ICU.

Wrecker has several after school jobs, including cleaning a grave at the cemetery. Wrecker meets a girl, Willi, with a dark secret in the past. Because Wrecker recused the criminal, Silver Mustache, he is hired to clean the grave of Mr. Vachs. Wrecker and Willi work together to give the criminals their comeuppance. The criminals took advantage of the pandemic. Wrecker's stepsister and her group are trying to protect the Key West from the Big Cruise Ships.

Loved how the author used humor and satire to deal with the injustices happening in the Key West.

Valdez Jones III calls himself Wrecker because his great-great=great-great-great grandfather salvaged shipwrecks. He comes across a speedboat that has run onto the sand and the men ask Wrecker not to call for help. They actually pay him to forget that he saw them. Now Wrecker is intrigued as to what these men are up to. He keeps seeing them all over and then they ask for her help. He can't really say no but has to figure out a way out of this mess!

Adventure meets mystery and thriller- all wrapped up in the perfect package. Middle grade readers will love this book! Kept me guessing and wanting to read more. Set in a time that they are familiar with and have heard possible stories about- Covid and vaccine cards. Think this is a great adventurous thriller to add to Carl Hissan’s resume! Enjoyed it and will be buying it for our library ASAP!

As a middle school teacher, for many years during our Environmental unit, our 7th graders read the Carl Hiaasen book, Hoot, and enjoyed it. Students are always looking for similar novels by Hiaasen.

Wrecker is another Hiaasen novel that combines interesting characters interacting with the environment in Florida; this time the setting is in Key West. Hiassen explores such topics as the Covid 19 pandemic and Illness, virtual school, family drama, racism, smuggling, and the history of Key West including diving for shipwrecks. Valdez Jones VIII “Wrecker”, the 15 year old quirky main character, discovers a speed boat stuck in the sandy shallow water during low tide. The men on the boat pay Wrecker not to tell anyone about their boat problems, Wrecker is glad to not get involved with the men on the boat, but he keeps running into them in Key West. Somehow Wrecker ends up as a lookout for the shady crew. Wrecker and his friend Willi experience some wild adventures.

Wrecker is a complex character trying to figure out his role in his family while examining environmental concerns and moral values. The book kept my interest but moved back and forth between places a little too much. I would have loved a little more exploration of huge cruise ships and pollution. I would recommend the book to middle school students but would not use it as a part of my reading curriculum.

Thank you NetGalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.