Module 7: Hoot by Carl Hiassen

Summary

Hoot is a story about a boy, Roy Eberhardt, who goes on a mission to save a group of owls whose livelihood is in jeopardy due to a construction project taking place. He discovers the owls predicament after noticing a boy, Mullet Fingers, running away while Roy was on the school bus. He soon learns that the boy is responsible for vandalizing the construction site the project is taking place on because he is trying to save the owls. While all of this is going on, Roy is also having to endure a bully at school.

Bibliographic Citation

Hiaasen, Carl (2002). Hoot. New York : Alfred A. Knopf.

Impressions

I enjoyed reading this story. Although the ending may not plausible or realistic, it is a good story for children to read. Someone enduring bullying at school may be able to identify with this story. The story is an inspirational one and the characters are memorable.

Reviews

It seems unlikely that the master of noir-tinged, surrealistic black humor would write a novel for young readers. And, yet, there has always been something delightfully juvenile about Hiaasen’s imagination; beneath the bent cynicism lurks a distinctly 12-year-old cackle. In this thoroughly engaging tale of how middle-schooler Roy Eberhardt, new kid in Coconut Cove, learns to love South Florida, Hiaasen lets his inner kid run rampant, both the subversive side that loves to see grown-ups make fools of themselves and the righteously indignant side, appalled at the mess being made of our planet. When Roy teams up with some classic children’s lit outsiders to save the home of some tiny burrowing owls, the stage is set for a confrontation between right-thinking kids and slow-witted, wrongheaded civic boosters. But Hiaasen never lets the formula get in his way; the story is full of offbeat humor, buffoonish yet charming supporting characters, and genuinely touching scenes of children enjoying the wildness of nature. He deserves a warm welcome into children’s publishing. — Bill Ott
Reviewed October 15, 2002-Booklist

Gr 6-9-Packed with quirky characters and improbable plot twists, Hiaasen's first novel for young readers is entertaining but ultimately not very memorable. Fans of the author's adult novels will find trademark elements-including environmental destruction, corrupt politicians, humorous situations, and a Florida setting-all viewed through the eyes of a middle-school student. Roy Eberhardt has just moved with his family to Coconut Cove. He immediately becomes the target of a particularly dense bully who tries to strangle him on the school bus. Roy seems more concerned, however, with discovering the identity of a running, barefoot boy he spots through the window of the bus. Meanwhile, plans to build a pancake house on a vacant lot are derailed when someone vandalizes the construction site. The two story lines come together when Roy discovers that the runaway boy is disrupting the construction to save a group of burrowing owls. Roy must help his new friend, nicknamed Mullet Fingers, as well as fend off the bully and adapt to life in Florida. The story is silly at times but rarely laugh-out-loud funny, and there are several highly unlikely scenes. Also, it wraps up a little too neatly-Roy's classmates join him to protest the construction project, his father finds the missing environmental impact report, and the owls are saved. While Roy is a sympathetic protagonist, few of the other characters are well developed. Students looking for humorous, offbeat characters and situations will probably prefer Louis Sachar's Holes (Farrar, 1998) or books by Daniel Pinkwater.-Miranda Doyle, San Francisco Public Library Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information
Reviewed 8-1-2002, School Library Journal

Library Settings

This book could be used in a book talk program focused on the idea of bullying. It could also be used in a book talk program focused on the idea of people working together to solve a problem.