Amazon.com Review
Mark, Jonah, Nicko, Azza, and Mitch, a.k.a. the Coconuts, a.k.a. the Convicts, are set to have the time of their lives at pioneer camp. Wattle and daub building, great food, blood-sucking leeches, mud fights, nose-biting horses, half-wild wombats, pirate plays... it's everything they dreamed of. Until the Bomb shows up. Mr. Cromwell is the dourest, cruelest, most unfair teacher at school--and is now a camp chaperon. Crom the Bomb has a particular sour spot in his evil heart for Jonah, and takes every opportunity to make his life miserable. The feud reaches a fever pitch when the Bomb and Jonah inadvertently are paired in a canoe trip, and disappear around the river bend. Can all the Coconuts survive this camping trip uncracked?

Mark's voice as narrator in this story is flawless. He is, through and through, a sixth-grade boy, complete with delight in the grossest things and hilarity over goofball practical jokes and muddy exploits. William Clarke's kidlike drawings of ant-covered boys and baby wombats combine nicely with Elizabeth Honey's photographs of rowdy campers to create a totally boyish document of a week at camp. (Ages 8 to 12) --Emilie Coulter