Hoot

Because…burrowing owls! Because…the power of kids to make a difference!

Hiassen’s story (a Newbery honor) brims with love and awe for Florida’s natural world, including these adorable owls who live underground and stand maybe six inches tall. When greedy developers threaten their dens, our hero Roy teams up with a supernaturally strong girl and her slightly feral brother to save them.

I love this book for its unshakeable belief in kids, who know injustice when they see it, for how it handles serious topics with a deft and witty touch, and for how it made me think of Florida in… show more.

Hiassen is a fine author with a deep conscience about the environment.

I love his books. In Hoot, Roy has just moved to Florida from Montana and is being bullied. While being harassed, Roy spots a barefoot boy about his age running alongside the bus and is curious. He tracks the boy and gradually learns why the kid wants to be left alone.

In the process, with new friends, he discovers that a large company is about to build on an area with nesting burrowing owls. Roy and his friends do what they can to address this wrong.

The… show more.

The renowned detective novelist brings his trademark snide sense of humor and gallery of hilariously twisted characters to Hoot, his first middle-grade effort and a Newbery Honor winner. Roy Eberhardt is a straight-arrow Montana transplant who finds himself face-to-face with real-world challenges and moral dilemmas after moving to Florida, where he teams up with a pair of quirky outsiders and a bumbling but well-meaning policeman to try to face down a greedy business owner who is about to destroy a burrowing owl habitat. Without resorting to facile moralizing, Hiaasen keeps the action light and fun while depicting Roy’s journey… show more.

Carl has a way of infusing humor even into the most serious of situations. The book centers around endangered owls but he tackles the issue with fun and humor that any young child can relate to. It’s a great book for reluctant readers and a great book to educate kids in a subtle way that is entertaining. 

There are lots of books now out about the environmental dangers facing our earth. They are full of doom and darkness. For good reason. But I firmly believe we’re also going to need optimism and humor and quick wits if we’re gonna make it through. Hoot is a great place to start looking! The story takes place in Florida and has a wonderful cast of very funny eco-warrior middle-graders, along with greedy developers, bumbling policemen, and a bag of poisonous water moccasins. Most important is the colony of tiny burrowing owls who are about to be bulldozed underground for the… show more.