"Swamped!" by Joe Tennis draws from his teenage years, growing up in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Tennis releases new book

Author Joe Tennis of Washington County, Virginia, released a new novel called “Swamped!” that draws from his teenage years, growing up in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

“Swamped!” follows four teenagers from the suburbs into a saltwater swamp loaded with marsh grass, fiddler crabs, thorns, thickets, possibly a ghost, maybe Bigfoot and at least one snake. These teens are forced to find their way home after breaking an oar on their rowboat.

But, said Tennis, 49, they bicker and constantly get sidetracked in conversations that range from politics and religion to love, cigarettes and the philosophies of Henry David Thoreau.

“This is a young adult book, but it would appeal to readers who love teen drama and lots of dialogue,” said Tennis. “And, of course, there’s the suspense on when or if they get out.”

Told through the first-person account of a character known only as “Apple Jelly,” this meandering mystery ultimately becomes a fiery debate between two types of teens: ones who dream to make a difference and those who never dare to be different.

“Swamped!” is the author’s first fiction release since 2011’s “Finding Franklin: Mystery of the Lost State Capitol.” Tennis is also the author of “Along Virginia’s Route 58,” “Haunts of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Highlands,” “Haunted Highlands” and “Southwest Virginia Crossroads.”

The author, who writes for the Bristol Herald Courier and the Washington County News, signs copies of his books Saturday, Nov. 3, 9 a.m. to noon, at the Abingdon Farmers Market, and Sunday, Nov. 4, 12-4 p.m., at the Mistletoe Market at Abingdon’s Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center. He also signs copies of “Swamped!” at the Christmas Connection of Kingsport, Tennessee, Nov. 9-11.