While Tarzan seems to have been relegated to the back shelf in recent years, here’s an updated female version with a distinctly Cajun flavor. Doucet offers the original three-part tale of Alligator Sue, an irrepressible Atchafalaya Swamp girl lost in a hurricane and brought up by a nice mama alligator. Sue lacks the tail and webbing to become a proficient gator and when it’s time to leave the nest, wise Mama Coco guides her back to the ruined houseboat from which she blew in, with the words, “All you can do is be who you is.” But Sue gets the last word as she discovers who that is. Doucet’s text is a storyteller’s delight, full of fun and with a sassy new heroine. Wilsdorf’s energetic illustrations are masterfully embedded throughout the text, blowing the story along like pleasurable windy microbursts. Laissez les bon temps roulez. (Picture book. 5-8)
