Customer Reviews

Hoot

5 star:		(74)
4 star:		(38)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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!

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.

I am a big fan of Carl Hiaasen's. He perfectly captures the frustrations of being picked on, and unaccepted as a child. His encounters with Dana, the bully, are great as Roy always has a way to win out.

The author does an incredible job of showing the different styles of activism that different people resort to. He presents the reader with the contemporary clash of free enterprise versus global ecological issues. He has a lot to say about parenting, and he has some great insights into the methods of dealing with bullies.

This is a great book for the young teenagers, but I think the adult fans might get a kick out of it, too. HOOT is definitely a title that you'll want for your collection. Another book that I strongly recommend for this age group "Why Some Cats are Rascals". Actually it is a series of three books with a lot of educational values.

Roy Eberhardt, the hero in the story Hoot by Carl Hiaasen, is a fourteen year old boy who is quick, sharp, sly, clever, and way beyond his years. Roy has pale white skin, dull brown hair, cherry red lips, and ears that are as large as those of an elephant. He is consistently being portrayed as "the new kid", for his family is always on the go, moving from one place to another because his father works in law enforcement and is continually being promoted to different places. Roy's father claims that this is a good thing, but Roy can never figure why because all that he is left with is the loneliness inside him, not having any friends.
Out of all the places that Roy has lived in, it was Florida in a small town called Coconut Cove, that really shook Roy's world. It all started one day when Roy was taking the bus to school. He had looked out the window and had seen a boy running without any backpack, shoes, or books. This had really triggered Roy's curiosity and for weeks he had tried to investigate the boy but couldn't find any information. It was later in the storey when Roy finally finds out who the boy is and why he was running. It is this discovery that takes Roy, the mysterious boy, and Beatrice Leep, the ultimate girl jock in all of Coconut Cove, on a quest to save a group of owls. It is this quest that takes the bunch to the construction site of the future Mother Paula's all American Pancake house, an abandoned junk yard, and the depths of the Floridian woods.
This book is truly amazing for the reason that it reminds us all to stand up for ourselves and what we believe in. It shows us that it doesn't take more than one person to make a difference. I really enjoyed the way the author would sometimes leave little gaps for you to fill in. I think this shows that he has respect for the readers of his books and thinks that they're intelligent enough to be able to fill in the gaps. I recommend this book for the ages of 10-13, for there are some challenging words that may be difficult to understand. This book is for people who enjoy adventurous stories with twists and turns along the way. It is also for people who are fond of stories about protecting the environment, which is a theme that runs throughout the book. So, hurry up and buy Hoot today, for it will lead you on a journey that you'll always remember and never forget!

Before I read this book, I read this talented author's second "environmental" book. What I enjoyed about FLUSH is that he takes a serious subject (environment) and teaches children about it with such wonderful, likable characters they don't even know they're learning. AND THAT'S WHAT I LIKE ABOUT HOOT TOO. No preaching! How clever of this author.

The characters were likable ... all except the bully; the plot moved at an exciting pace; the dialogue was sassy; and the setting (Florida) was perfect for this book.

I'm not a died-in-the-wool environmentalist; I believe in development and believe both have their places in this world. Both are needed. Unlike the developers in this book, most developers are very decent, caring people who believe in saving the environment too. Most work in harmony with the environmentalists.

Mr. Hiaasen brought the issues of development vs. environment to light in a witty story that is educational too.

Reviewer: Betty Dravis, author of The Toonies Invade Silicon Valley

I love all of Carl Hiaasen's works and HOOT, even though it's touted for the younger set, is no exception. With the same great writing, style, and sense of humor that is found in McCrae's THE BARK OF THE DOGWOOD (though that one's definitely NOT for children), Hiaasen hits his mark once again with this book. Using endangered species as the jumping off point, Hiassen weaves a tale that only he could come up with. The twistedness of his ideas, coupled with great writing, make this one of the most unusual books ever written. Thanks to Carl Hiaasen for giving us this stellar work.

With rich detail and the perspective of an eleven-year-old boy, Carl Hiaasen wrote an award winning novel, Hoot. In the story Roy Eberhardt moves to Coconut Cove, Florida from the rolling mountains of Montana. Making new friends is hard but Dana Matherson, school bully, takes all the blame for a wonderful relationship with a tough brother and sister. Going through fights and playing tricks doesn't stop this adventurous threesome from defending something precious and small. Mother Paula's House of Pancakes is coming to Coconut Cove, and right on top of a field of burrowing owls! Competing against an angry grounds keeper and curious policeman, the three will do anything to save the owls. Hoot was an adventurous and funny read. I recommend this book to anyone with a great sense of humor. There are new surprises on every page!

-Tator Tot

In reading the book Hoot by Carl Hiaasen, I have come to the opinion that the author wrote this book as a mystery novel to show what the job of a detective is like. In the setting of this book there is supposedly a group of vandals some where in the neighborhood. In front of the Mother Paula's stake house, stakes were torn out of the ground, and large sized alligators were put in the guest latrines, leaving it up to officer Delinko to solve. I think the plot of this book shows a great example of this with an outstanding scenario and never ending amounts of suspense.