Hoot by Carl Hiaasen [pdf : 276k]
: Owls; Environmental protection
: Newbery Honor Book, Best Books for Young Adults
: Florida, Grade 6
: Alligator, snake, owl
Roy Eberhardt is the new kid in town—again. His mom assured him that he would love Florida. Everybody in America wanted to move there, she said, it’s so sunny and gorgeous, she said. He wasn’t convinced. He doesn't give a “hoot” about living in Coconut Cove, Florida. But he’d moved around a lot, so he knew the drill. He sat alone at the lunch table because he hadn't made any new friends because the kids at school wouldn’t socialize with him. And as expected, the local bully, Dana Matherson, preyed on him on the school bus. It’s hard to be the new kid. But this town was going to be different. This time a new dimension would be added to the routine. He knew it the minute he saw that boy running away from school.
Roy was on the bus on his way to school, with his face smashed up against the school bus window, and with Dana’s hands pressed against his head when he notices a boy his own age running very fast away from school with no backpack on his shoulders, no books in his hands and no shoes on his feet! The boy looks to be about Roy’s age so he looks for him in school the next day. Where could this kid be going? Why is he running away? What is going on? Just down the street from Roy’s house, strange things have been happening at the construction site of the new Mother Paula’s Pancake House. Someone has been sneaking into the construction site and pulling up the survey stakes, (Bring out alligator) putting alligators in the port a-potties, and (Bring out snake) leaving snakes with strange sparkling tails. Why would someone be doing these things? Are they just practical jokes or is it something more serious?
It’s all a big mystery until Roy meets the running boy named “Mullet Fingers” and his stepsister Beatrice Leep who bites a hole in Roy’s bicycle tire. Soon they all stumble into the adventure of a lifetime that includes sneaky politicians, greedy company executives, and (Bring out owl) some little burrowing owls not much bigger than a can of Coke.
Follow the adventure in (Hold up book) Hoot by Carl Hiaasen.
