Bestselling author and columnist Carl Hiaasen returns with another hysterical mystery for kids set in Florida"s Everglades. Â Bunny Starch, the most feared biology teacher ever, is missing. She disappeared after a school field trip to Black Vine Swamp. And, to be honest, the kids in her class are relieved. Â But when the principal tries to tell the students that Mrs. Starch has been called away on a "family emergency," Nick and Marta just don"t buy it. No, they figure the class delinquent, Smoke, has something to do with her disappearance. Â And he does! But not in the way they think. There"s a lot more going on in Black Vine Swamp than any one player in this twisted tale can see. And Nick and Marta will have to reckon with an eccentric eco-avenger, a stuffed rat named Chelsea, a wannabe Texas oilman, a singing substitute teacher, and a ticked-off Florida panther before they really begin to see the big picture. Â That"s life in the swamp, kids. From the Hardcover edition.