The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp

This is the third book my daughter and I have read this summer.We completely fell in love with "Sugar Man" and all of its characters. I so want Ms. Appelt to write more books with Bingo, J'Miah, Chap, the Sugar Man, and yes, the DeSoto too. Each character was strongly and individually created. They each had a very unique voice which allowed us to completely immerse ourselves in the story.The plot was interesting and fast moving. There were several plot lines that presented in alternating (and often very short ) chapters. As the story progressed, the plot lines intertwined, separated, and ended with each line connected to all the other lines in a very satisfactory way.I read this book out loud to my daughter which maximized our enjoyment of the story. As I mentioned above, the characters were very strongly developed and each had an unique voice. This made it a joy to read out loud as the way the voice should sound was obvious from the writing. There was no struggling to think of different sounds for different characters. Also, there is a Southern homeyness to the dialogue that adds a lot of sugar and spice to the reading. It is impossible to read this book with a flat tone. The author gives you lots of energy and movement in the words. In short, it is fun to read this story and I wish there was more.Our only complaint was in the character of Chap's mom. She was so flat. All she did was run the cafe and make fried sugar pies. She seemed willing to step back into the kitchen and let her son (trying hard to learn how to be a man) solve their problems. Perhaps this was the author's goal as a means of showing Chap's growth. At the end, Chap looks at the swamp and realizes that he wants to save this special place not just for his grandpa but because of his own love of the land. Chap is becoming a man in his own right. Chap's mom, however, remains a weak and disappointing female character in an otherwise thoroughly enjoyable book.

The plot elements in this book are braided together well. The story lines of the animal characters, the legendary characters and the humans all merge at the end for a funny and satisfying wrap up. The dialog and points of view of the animal characters and the human characters are well written, well-coordinated across their various story lines and give the reader a birds-eye view of how paths will cross and lives will be stirred up. It's fun to read. It begs to be read out loud.

I loved this book. Not right away, at least with the story line. I found all the different POVs made it a bit slow. I stayed with it because the voice was so delightful I had to keep going. And was it worth it! Not long into it I was hooked. And as others have said, what a fantastic payoff at the end. Highly recommend it.

Hello, my name is Joseph, and I read the book, The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp. The book is written with many interesting details, and I loved how the story took place in the swamp. Because of the brave and funny raccoons who are two of the main characters, and the creativity plot, this book was one of the best books I've ever read.This book is about three main characters, Chap, a boy who lives in the swamp and, along with his mother, runs Paradise Pies Cafe, and the raccoons, Bingo and J'miah. They all love one specific thing: the whole swamp. But suddenly trouble is headed their way, and it's trouble for the whole swamp. It's their mission to save the swamp and their swamp friends.My most favorite parts of the book are when the raccoons take the sugarcane pies and Sweetums, the cat, tries to stop them, and when the Sugarman, a mythical creature who is a brother to Big Foot, awakes from his deep, deep and long sleep to help our heroes.I recommend this book to anyone who is into action, animals, and pies.

I am a 10 year old boy, and this is my favorite chapter book. It is about two raccoon brothers, Bingo and J'miah, and a boy, Chap Brayburn, and his mother. They all live in and love the Sugar Man Swamp. The swamp is threatened. From the animal perspective, the threat is from the Farrow Gang, a family of feral, destructive, rampaging hogs, who are after the muscavado sugar cane that grows wild in the swamp. From the human perspective, the threat is Sonny Boy Beaucoup and Jaeger Stitch, who want to pave the Sugar Man Swamp and build an alligator wrestling area. Building the area, would shut down the Brayburn's sugar pie cafe, their only source of lodging and income. The cafe was established by Chap's grandfather, who fell in love with the swamp when he came there in his De Soto to find the Ivory Billed Woodpecker. Chap's grandfather has recently died. His love for the swamp lives on in Chap, and his long lost De Soto serves as Information Headquarters for the Sugar Man Swamp Scouts, Bingo and J'miah.I've read the book over and over again, and it is still fun. I love the characters. Its a great book, and I think everyone should read it.

Listened to the audio version of this book with my 8 year old son. We simply loved it! Brilliantly narrated by Lyle Lovett, this story does have a lot of threads, but they are woven together with grace and humor. It is funny, poignant, and memorable. The author's voice is both sophisticated and folksy and it works masterfully in the story. Some advanced vocabulary, but not incomprehensible to a child (at least not to mine) We did not find the story "overly complicated" as some have suggested. In fact, the flashbacks that "confused" others were among our favorite passages. Frankly, the negative reviews for this book are truly puzzling to both my boy and me!This book is a true gem---it’s hard to find a good coming of age story for boys that does not involve the usual clichés. Thank you Kathi Appelt: Grandpa Audie's message will live on in your readers. Now if we could only get a taste of the sugar pie... :0)

Read this with my little girl. Both of us enjoyed the story, and Kathi Appelt's style of writing. The chapters are quite short so it makes a great bed time book because it is easy to stop and pick up again.