Product Description

Unfortunately, Roy’s first acquaintance in Florida is Dana Matherson, a well-known bully. Then again, if Dana hadn’t been sinking his thumbs into Roy’s temples and mashing his face against the school-bus window, Roy might never have spotted the running boy. And the running boy is intriguing: he was running away from the school bus, carried no books, and–here’s the odd part–wore no shoes. Sensing a mystery, Roy sets himself on the boy’s trail. The chase introduces him to potty-trained alligators, a fake-fart champion, some burrowing owls, a renegade eco-avenger, and several extremely poisonous snakes with unnaturally sparkling tails.
Roy has most definitely arrived in Carl Hiaasen’s Florida.


From the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1302312 in Books
• Published on: 2003-03
• Format: Large Print
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 311 pages

From Amazon.co.uk
Hoot, Carl Hiaasen's debut novel for younger readers is a very special treat indeed. The writing is exceptionally good, and the characters extremely quirky and well realised. It's incredibly readable despite a story premise that is not sparklingly original. But no matter, there's an engaging "feel-good" vibe running through the whole book.

The setting, as with Hiaasen's crime thrillers for adults such as Basket Case and Sick Puppy, is sunny Florida and the heat, swamps, dust and pancakes all contribute to the authentic atmosphere of the book. His favourite environmental theme is here too, as is the thoroughly watertight plotting. There's an engaging mystery set up on the very first page and it builds nicely with more twists and turns as the story unfolds--all of them reassuringly tied up come the final pages.

Roy Eberhardt's story begins when he is being mashed up against the window of the school bus by bully Dana Matherson. He spots an athletic bare-footed boy running away from the bus and wonders where he is going. Further investigations, after he has unwisely smashed Dana's nose in to get away from him, leads Roy into the middle of a battle between a green-minded local runaway and the proposed opening of a pancake restaurant. The development threatens the habitat of a burrowing-owl colony and it's an issue that several people in the community have differing views upon--not all of them legal.

Roy carries the story very well indeed. He's likable and persistent in the face of unexpected and challenging adventure, despite his modest size. The cause he chooses to support is eminently worthy--he weighs up the strength of his beliefs with the necessity to slightly bend the law. This is a good story with some great writing--a winning combination. (For readers aged 10 and over.) --John McLay

Books in Canada
Hoot, Carl Hiaasen's first book for younger readers is part mystery, part slapstick comedy and is a totally satisfying and truly environmentally friendly novel. On one level, it's a story about Roy Eberhardt, the new kid in this otherwise sleepy little Florida town who has caught the eye of the local bully and has to find a way of dealing with this dilemma as well as make his own place in his new community. On another, it's a richly comic farce that gives kids a chance to see the ineptitude of adults—this is shown to great effect in the bumblings of Coconut Cove's local "Public Safety Department" and the hilarious happenings at the construction site of the new Mother Paula's All-American Pancake House. But Hoot is not just pure farce—and that is what makes it such an interesting novel—it also explores the way that any number of corrupt and greedy adults view the world as theirs to plunder no matter the consequences. Most importantly, Hoot is a book about kids trying to change their world, to expose and take on corporate corruption. As Roy becomes embroiled in Mullet Fingers' and his sister Beatrice's fight to save the nests of the tiny burrowing owls who make their home on the Mother Paula's site, he realizes the power that he has despite the fact that he's a kid. Roy learns to stand up not only for himself but also for who he wants to be and for the world he wants to live in. Hiaasen delivers a powerful message in a wonderfully engaging fiction that is sure to get young readers thinking about what they can do too. Hiaasen is a straight shooter with his adult readers and he treats his younger readers with the same consideration. Here's hoping we'll hear more hoots from Hiaasen soon.
Jeffrey Canton (Books in Canada)

From Publishers Weekly
With a Florida setting and proenvironment, antidevelopment message, Hiaasen (Sick Puppy) returns to familiar turf for his first novel for young readers. Characteristically quirky characters and comic twists will surely gain the author new fans, though their attention may wander during his narrative's intermittently protracted focus on several adults, among them a policeman and the manager of a construction site for a new franchise of a pancake restaurant chain. Both men are on a quest to discover who is sabotaging the site at night, including such pranks as uprooting survey stakes, spray-painting the police cruiser's windows while the officer sleeps within and filling the portable potties with alligators. The story's most intriguing character is the boy behind the mischief, a runaway on a mission to protect the miniature owls that live in burrows underneath the site. Roy, who has recently moved to Florida from Montana, befriends the homeless boy (nicknamed Mullet Fingers) and takes up his cause, as does the runaway's stepsister. Though readers will have few doubts about the success of the kids' campaign, several suspenseful scenes build to the denouement involving the sitcom-like unraveling of a muckity-muck at the pancake house. These, along with dollops of humor, help make the novel quite a hoot indeed. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Hoot
Hoot

Saving owls from habitats getting destroyed sounds hard doesn't it? Roy and his other two friends have enough confident to try it.
A new kid in Florida, Roy, is just like any other new kid. Nobody cares where he is or how he is. He didn't expect anybody to care anyway. Roy is skinny and an ordinary teenager I think about fourteen years old. At lunch times, he always sits alone, at the end of the long table, eating bizarre food. After school he follows the boy he saw running. He sees burrowing owls on the way that look like they need attention because their habitats are going to get destroyed. Roy and two other new friends enter a massive adventure to save the owls. Here are some key themes to Hoot: courage, determination, bravery, but most importantly, team work to accomplish the adventure. They will need a lot of bravery because it will be very tough to save the owls if they don't take risks. They will have to help each other out to create a stronger and better group. Saving owls sounds challenging but when determination and courage tags along, it would be a little easier and better. Settings are very important to Hoot. The story mainly takes place at school, and in the forest (outside). Roy and his new friends meet at school. After school, Roy finds them in the forest. Roy was wondering what they were doing there and same with them. The setting, especially the forest is a very creative area. The settings make Hoot a more rollicking and hilarious book because in the forest is a very unusual, but cool place.
Characters are also important because they bring the book to life. All the characters are very wacky and unique. Take Beatrice for example: She's a girl, an athletic, brave, bossy girl. She teases people sometimes, but also really kind. For example: she wants to save the owls. Dana is the school bully. He is very big, probably would outweigh Roy by at least fifty pounds, and he is very strong. His two main hobbies are smoking and beating up little kids and he tries to physically hurt people, especially Roy because he's the new kid. For example: Mushing Roy's face against the bus window. He never stands up for his friends, if he had any either. Another nasty character is Officer Delinko. He is very uncaring and cruel. He tries to stop Roy from saving the burrowing owls. He also has another buddy, Officer Curly to help him. My favourite character is Beatrice because she is very different from other characters like Roy. My least favourite character is Officer Delinko because he blends in with the crowd. He's boring, not like Beatrice or Roy.
The writing style of Carle Hiaasen is very affective. Carl is very imaginative and creative. He has created a lot of enjoyable characters, and imaginative settings. Carl Hiaasen proves that he is very caring because the main idea is to save owls and the owls' habitat from being destroyed. He has also written another book called Flush, which also tells us that he is caring because Flush is about saving the ocean and fish from pollution. Carl Hiaasen writes his books in third person. I think writing in third person for Hoot, is better than writing first person because of Carl Hiaasen's writing style. He likes to have huge chunks of dialogue instead of mixing it in with the thoughts, minds, and facts. I find it more interesting that way.
Hoot is a great read-aloud book. I recommend Hoot for people that are ages eight to thirteen. It is also nice to be read for fun for older kids and adults too. Now go find Hoot in the library and read it with your friends undercover, it'll be pleasant!

Hoot
This is a great book for everyone. Carl Hiaasen does a wonderful job in using Burrowing Owls as a central part of the story. The story is about a new kid who attempts to save some burrowing owls from a construction site. The new kid's name is Roy Eberhardt and he is from Montana.

Roy lives in Coconut Cove, and he doesn't have any friends since he just moved. Roy is hoping to meet some new friends at school but before Roy can meet a friend he encounters a bully. The bully's name is Dana Matherson and he always picks on Roy. One day on the bus Dana tries to strangle Roy while Roy sees a boy running alongside the bus. Roy gets out to chase after him but after halfway in the chase he gets hit by a golf ball. Roy wakes up to find he's in the principal's office where he gets questioned about the incident.

After school Roy retraces his steps which leads him to the woods where he finds himself face to face with cottonmouth moccasin. A boy, possibly the one that morning, helps him escape but is he friend or foe? Roy found out that the boy was friendly and his nickname is Mullet Fingers. Roy found this out from his sister who's name is Beatrice Leep. Beatrice and Roy decide to join Mullet Fingers to save the owls.

Excellent Adventure
This is a story about a boy, Roy, who has just moved to Florida. His first day at school he gets called ‘Tex’ and the nickname sticks and the harassment begins. Yet life is never as simple as being the new kid in school, trying to hang low and trying to just get by.

He meets many interesting characters in Florida:
Dana Matherson - The School Bully
Mullet Fingers – A Kid who lives in the forest
Beatrice Leep – Captain of the Soccer Team,
And Mullet’s Stepsister
But Mullet is on a mission. He is trying to save burrowing owls from being wiped out by the Mother Paula’s Pancake House, which is supposed to be building a new restaurant.

Mullet uses guerilla tactics: alligators in the port-a-potties, snakes all over the job site, and many, many more. Roy tries to go a different route: checking out building out permits, getting classmates to come and speak and raise their voice at the groundbreaking.

Can a few young kids save an endangered bird? Will Mullet, Roy and Beatrice succeed? Pick up the book and read it. There is also a movie coming out this summer that should be a hit with children and adults alike.