Hoot Paperback – December 27, 2005

My eyes are a little bit moist after having just finished HOOT by Carl Hiaasen. As I write this, I'm perched upon the royal blue carpeting between two of the dividers that stretch the length of a football field and herd us slowly in the direction of Jean Auel. Jean is sitting on a stool behind a table just beyond the goal line. I arrived here at the Javits Convention Center around 6:15 this morning--that's 3:15 A.M. California time, my body reminds me--in order to obtain one of the relatively limited tickets that allow entrance to this line for the purpose of receiving a smile and a signed copy of the new book from Ms. Auel. David Halberstam's line will be my next stop. But at the moment I am feeling like my best literary score of the day is the additional advance copy of HOOT that my friends at Random House are graciously permitting me to take back to California. Now, I can lend out a copy (first to my faithful webmaster) and keep another to eventually put away in my collection of the really good ones.Yes, HOOT is one that you'll want for your collection, too.I was just about to say that I can't wait to get home and start reading HOOT to my kids and Shari, but that wouldn't be particularly true. Thanks to another publisher friend, I am going to see Dee Dee Ramone and the Tom Tom Club perform at a party tonight, so frankly I CAN wait a little while to get back to California. But when I DO get there, you can be sure that I'm immediately sitting everyone down to share this great tale.First, you have the owls:"Walking back toward the patrol car, the policeman stumbled and fell down. Curley grabbed him under one arm and hoisted him to his feet.'Stupid owls,' said Curley.The policeman brushed the dirt and grass burrs off his uniform. 'You say owls?'Curley gestured at a hole in the ground. It was as big around as one of Mother Paula's famous buttermilk flapjacks. A mound of loose white sand was visible at the entrance.'That's what you tripped over,' Curley informed Officer Delinko.'An owl lives down there?' The policeman bent down and studied the hole. 'How big are they?'''Bout as tall as a beer can.''No kidding?' said Officer Delinko.'But I ain't never seen one, officially speakin.'"Then, you've got the bully:"The grip on his throat tightened. He felt Dana's ashtray breath on his right ear: 'How come you ain't got your boots on today? Who ever heard of a cowgirl wearing Air Jordans?''They're Rebocks,' Roy squeaked."Now, throw in the mystery kid (whose first appearances are reminiscent of Maniac Magee):"The boy was straw-blond and wiry, and his skin was nut-brown from the sun. The expression on his face was intent and serious. He wore a faded Miami Heat basketball jersey and dirty khaki shorts, and here was the odd part: no shoes. The soles of his bare feet looked as black as barbecue coals...Because the boy kept running--past the corner, past the line of students waiting to get on the bus; past the bus itself. Roy wanted to shout, 'Hey look at that guy!' but his mouth wasn't working so well. Dana Matherson still had him from behind, pushing his face against the window."Add in the seriously evil PR guy from the pancake house chain, the tough girl soccer star, the assortment of parents with widely varying skill levels, and the bumbling young cop. Then drop Roy, the new kid in town, into the middle of everything and you have the recipe for a book that will enchant kids of all ages. There is humor, sadness, and a touch of suspense.What WILL happen to the owls in those holes?In HOOT, Carl Hiaasen 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 between the lines about parenting, and he has some great insights into the methods of dealing with bullies.I've never read his adult books, but I sure hope Hiaasen writes more children's books for my kids. HOOT is a heck of a first step into the world of children's literature.Richie Partington[...]BudNotBuddy@aol.com

I know this book was for "young readers," but this was a fun story for anyone. I love the characters in Carl Hiaasen's novels. I like his description of places. This is a fun read for all ages.

Easy to follow. Entertaining. There's a few by the same author that are pretty good.

this is a good book i enjoyed reading it my favorite part was when the kids lied on the ground holding each others hands.

The whole story is an important lesson in what should be done to save wildlife and wild areas that are constantly being bulldozed in search of the almighty dollar. Roy as the protagonist was perfect. He is our conscience, hopefully for change. But I won’t hold my breath. Carl Hiaasen tells a wonderful story, always with an underlying message.

Simple story but such a good story about kids standing up for what is right in spite of them being kids.

“Amuzing, and most suited for kids who enjoy reading about the adventures of other kids, identifying with their hopes and fears, their need for friendship and fear of bullying, and who yearn for attachments but and are not yet ready for deep romance.Still, ithe story is remarkeably unchallenging either intellectually or for one's imagination. Many of the characters are stereotypical caricatures, the kind we might encounter in an animated TV cartoon. There are real life stories (of wildlife protection) that are better to read.This is a review by an adult. I picked up this book because I am interested in the Miami area and was looking for portrayals of the area. I had hoped for something special from Carl Hiaasen, the author of Hoot, since he was a Miami Herald reporter for several decades, and thus as familiar with the local scene as , say, Raymond Chandler was of Los Angeles, or Steig Larsen is of Stockholm. But whereas these other authors capture the quintessential and distinguishing character of their surroundings, in the case of Hoot, the neighborhood where the action takes place has little or no personality, indeed it could be almost anywhere in suburban America, wherever you find single-family homes on residential streets adjacent to strip development with the occasional still-unbuilt lot. And that is a shame, because the Miami Area, with its cultural diversity, is quite unique, and Carl's book would have been so much more interesting if he had captured some of this local color. The same could be said about the weather, Why doesn't Carl tell us about the moments of blazing sun, and the rolling dark clouds, the heat and humidity and the thunderstorms, the coolness and breezes at night, and the dependence on air-conditioning, all of which would have made the action all the more real,

Very useful for my son art language lessons

This book was purchase for use in a school setting. We found that kids love this book. It consistently is one of the more sought after book. It is a very fun story with the right amount of humour that young kids can relate to.

my daughter liked it very very much she finished reading in two days as she could't put the book down... go for it

I love his books and this is a cute and funny series of 4 books that are easy to read for adults and teenagers.

My 9year old boy loved this book. Until this book it was all ‘captain underpants’ , ‘Barry loser’ and ‘horrid henry’. I tried for ages to get him ‘hooked’ on reading and tried a few other books before we found this one. Finally! We are off the “young boy silly stories”books. So I highly recommend it as it helped me make the shift and we are now onto ‘his dark materials’ and books I can read with or alongside him and enjoy talking to him about....sigh, one happy Mummy:)

A good read for getting away from more adult reading. Good match to movie