Hoot [Paperback]

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.

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.

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!