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Loading... Hoot (original 2002; edition 2006)by Carl Hiaasen
Work detailsHoot by Carl Hiaasen (2002)
None. YA; young man tries to save Florida owls and to adapt to new home Amusing story full of lovable characters and laudable messages. Somewhat predictable, but very worth reading. Hiaasen takes his "environmental mystery with a screwball sense of humor" and adapts it for the upper grade school and middle school audience. Thoroughly enjoyable, although a bit credibility stretching at times, Hoot is the story of a Montana boy who's been transplanted to Florida and becomes involved in a mystery containing a running boy with bare feet, Mother Paula's Pancake House, a girl called Beatrice the Bear and owls. Listened to the Playaway from Listening Library narrated by Chad Lowe. This was my first Playaway experience and at first I found the narration curiously flat and I wasn't sure if that was due to Chad Lowe or the format. After consultation with others though, I think it's the format - Playaways just don't sound as full as CD recordings - at least not yet. Previously read sometime around 2003ish. My 11 y.o. daughter recommended this book to me. It was a great book for her age group. Nicely paced, some irreverent humour to lighten the slightly preachy tones.
Pat Tate (Carousel 23 (Spring 2003)) Roy Eberhardt is being bullied by Dana Matherson, mainly because he is the new boy who has just moved to the school in Florida from Montana. A refreshingly different tale because Roy resolutely refuses to give in to the bully, and as a result of this positive stand he sees something mysterious which develops into an intriguing story. There is a connection with the tantalising title and cover and the delightful humour, together with the lovably quirky characters in this special novel, is most satisfying. My heart warmed to the policeman who fell asleep in his patrol car, and woke to find someone had painted all the windows black. The book feels very American but young readers will cope with the slight cultural differences, which may well enhance their enjoyment of the tale. Nicholas Tucker (Books for Keeps No. 140, May 2003) Hiaasen must be the most entertaining environmental author there has yet been. Now addressing a younger audience for the first time, his latest passionate but also very funny novel jogs along paths already familiar to fans of his previous adult eco-thrillers. Set in his beloved but continuously over-developed state of Florida, this story features a wild boy out to defeat a Pancake company from building on land dwelt in by rare burrowing owls. Up against him are Curly, the grumpy, bald site foreman, Officer Delinko, an unfortunate policeman, and Chuck E Muckle, company chairman and ruthless entrepreneur. All this is witnessed by Roy, a new boy in the area who is also the target of his school's chief bully. How everything finally works out is a joy to behold, with enough one-liners to keep any reader happy long after the event. Category: 10-14 Middle/Secondary. Rating: ***** (Unmissable). ...., Macmillan, 288pp, D9.99 pbk. Ages 10 to 14.
Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0440419395, Paperback)Roy Eberhardt is the new kid--again. This time around it's Trace Middle School in humid Coconut Grove, Florida. But it's still the same old routine: table by himself at lunch, no real friends, and thick-headed bullies like Dana Matherson pushing him around. But if it wasn't for Dana Matherson mashing his face against the school bus window that one day, he might never have seen the tow-headed running boy. And if he had never seen the running boy, he might never have met tall, tough, bully-beating Beatrice. And if he had never met Beatrice, he might never have discovered the burrowing owls living in the lot on the corner of East Oriole Avenue. And if he had never discovered the owls, he probably would have missed out on the adventure of a lifetime. Apparently, bullies do serve a greater purpose in the scope of the universe. Because if it wasn't for Dana Matherson...In his first novel for a younger audience, Carl Hiaasen (Basket Case, etc.) plunges readers right into the middle of an ecological mystery, made up of endangered miniature owls, the Mother Paula's All-American Pancake House scheduled to be built over their burrows, and the owls' unlikely allies--three middle school kids determined to beat the screwed-up adult system. Hiaasen's tongue is firmly in cheek as he successfully cuts his slapstick sense of humor down to kid-size. Sure to be a hoot, er, hit with middle school mystery fans. (Ages 10 to 15) --Jennifer Hubert (retrieved from Amazon Thu, 03 Jan 2013 14:44:17 -0500) Roy, who is new to his small Florida community, becomes involved in another boy's attempt to save a colony of burrowing owls from a proposed construction site. (summary from another edition) |
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Roy, who is new to his small Florida community and the target of a bully, becomes involved in another’s boy’s attempt to save a colony of burrowing owls from a proposed construction site.