Hoot by Carl Hiaasen Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Hoot
Book Review: Create Your Own Review
Summary: 4 Stars
Austin M. review of Hoot by Carl Hiaasen, March 20, 2008. WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD! Roy Eberhardt is an adolescent boy who has moved from place to place with his father's job in the government. He now resides in the quiet town of Coconut Cove, Florida. In this town Roy is the new kid who has only a few friends. One day while riding the bus to school, Roy sees a boy running down the road in an old, tattered basketball jersey, dirty shorts, and bare feet. Roy is fascinated by the boy, and the next time he sees the boy he pursues him. While jumping off of the bus to catch the boy, he runs into Beatrice Leed. The boy turns out to be Beatrice's stepbrother. The main problem in the story is a species of burrowing owl that makes their nest on a construction site for the restaurant, Mother Paula's Pancakes. Beatrice's stepbrother has always cared about animals, and he wants to save the owls living on the lot. He pulls multiple pranks, and crimes to try to delay the construction. Later in the story, Beatrice's brother pulls in Roy and Beatrice to help out with the cause. Eventually Roy spreads publicity throughout the school and town, and when the televised groundbreaking ceremony for the restaurant came, there was a large protest against the construction. The school kids, along with adults, and the Mother Paula icon herself fight the company by not letting construction begin. In addition, a little detective work by Roy made the company forfeit the lot. Roy found out that the lot did not have any of the proper paperwork, and that the owls were a protected species, so the company gave up. The trio of Roy, Beatrice, Napoleon Bridger (Beatrice's stepbrother) had won the battle.Book Review: Environmental focus and clear prose
Summary: 5 Stars
Just off the moving truck from Montana, Roy Eberhardt is about to start at Trace Middle School down in Coconut Grove, Florida. The new kid in town. Again. And he has new kid syndome bad -- eating lunch by himself, no friends, and the subject of the school bully's free time enjoyment. Things leap from ordinary to extra-O one day when Dana Matherson is beating the loose change out of him on the bus. Roy happens to look out the window and see a strange boy running almost as fast as the bus.
Why isn't the boy going to school? Why is he barefoot? And how is he running so fast?
Roy's quest to find out the identity of this mysterious boy leads him to cross paths with several interesting characters in the process, many of which are adults -- A few police officers, security guards for Mother Paula's All-American Pancake House, the tallest, toughest girl at school, Beatrice, and a nest of burrowing owls at the corner of East Oriole Avenue. This intersection of characters drops Roy into the center of a plot to keep Mother Paula's from building their new restaurant on the site at East Oriole. We can't have them burrying those owls now, can we? Uprooted survey stakes, baby alligators in the portapotties, spraypainted and jawtied cottonmouth snakes on the site, and spraypainted cop car windows are just the start. Something has to be done to defend the owls, and somebody has to do it.
Carl Hiassen's first book for young adults, HOOT seems it will be around for a long time. It's environmental focus and clear prose make it easy to recommend to young readers. And with the movie having already hit the theaters a while back, I wouldn't be surprised if this book makes its way into school classrooms at some point.
-- Reviewed by Jonathan Stephens
Book Review: Excellent Read-aloud book...
Summary: 5 Stars
While the book has a great "hook" from the very first page - the mystery of the running boy, who is first seen by Roy as his (Roy's) face is smushed against a school bus window by a bully - I was a bit surprised by how much my children (9, 11) LOVE this book. Hiaasen's book is chock-full of vivid descriptions of both the setting and the characters - and there are multiple well-developed characters. My kids usually prefer action(although they did love the quiet tale of the Penderwicks) to character analysis, but they were riveted by this tale and begged me to read multiple chapters a day instead of the usual one. And I've enjoyed it thoroughly myself.
I'd say Hoot has increased the children's environmental awareness; given them an appreciation of Florida as something other than a state where beaches, hurricanes, and Disney can be found; encouraged them to really think about that fine line between right and wrong; increased their curiosity about the motivations of adults and the complicated balancing acts they engage in; raised the issue of dysfunctional families in a fairly sensitive way; and given us the opportunity to discuss many literary devices. And it is quite funny too, sometimes a bit slapstick but the descriptions are wonderful and the kids completely eat it up.
Highly recommended.
Book Review: Finally! A Book For Every Generation!
Summary: 5 Stars
The book "Hoot" is very exciting. I never wanted to put it down. In the book, Roy Eberdhart is the new kid in school... again. But in one second, his life changes dramatically. The school bully, Dana Materson, is just like all of the bullies Roy has faced. But if it weren't for cigarette smoking Dana, Roy would have never looked out the window of the school bus to see "the running boy". After that Roy meets Beatrice, otherwise known as Beatrice the Bear. Then he learns The Running Boy's (aka Mullet Fingers) story and wants to help him save the owls. The owls aren't just any owls though. They're endagered. A company called Mother Paula's All-American Pancake House wants to build their 469th pancake house on the plot where the owls live. They know they're there, and they know it's illegal, so why are they doing it anyways? Just to sell a couple of pancakes. Readers young and old alike will love this Newberry Honors Book, and the movie that came out this Spring. I recommend this book, though, to people ages 12 and up for understanding purposes (ex: Dana Matterson)Book Review: Give a Hoot for "Hoot"
Summary: 4 Stars
Carl Hiaasen wrote a fun-filled kid's novel that takes place in Coconut Cove Florida. This is a story of a new kid, Roy Eberhart, from Montana fights the battle of bullies and the lives of burrowing owls. While he solves the mystery of the "running boy" ,he learns who he really is and gains a great friendship with him and Beatrice. While helping the running boy in his task of stopping the Mother Paula's Pancake house from burying the owl holes, Roy faces conflicts and delays. Not only is officer Delinko constantly on this case ,Roy also used his name in the hospital to help a friend while he was hurt. Will Roy and his friends ever stop the bulldozers? Find out, and read this great book.