Summary

“Ava Wrestles the Alligator” is narrated by Ava in first-person present. Ava is a 12-year-old girl who has been left alone in Swamplandia! with her 16-year-old sister, Ossie. Their father, Chief Bigtree, left them alone for the summer in Grandpa Sawtooth’s old house on the island where the family runs the #1 alligator-themed park and Swamp Cafe. Ossie is described as a “special” (6) girl, and she is continually possessed by ghosts. Because Ossie is preoccupied with her possessions, Ava does most of the work on the swamp, including feeding the gators. However, she is afraid of going into the pit with them to pull them up out of the water and of hanging up the hens for “Live Chicken Thursdays.”

Ava is jealous of Ossie because she is always in another world, spending time with her latest ghost...