Hoot

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Hiaasen, Carl. 2002. HOOT. New York: Random House Children's Books. ISBN 0-375-92181-8.

PLOT SUMMARY
Middle-schooler Roy Eberhardt has moved recently with his parents to Coconut Cove, Florida. Roy soon becomes the target of a much larger boy who bullies him at school and on the bus. One day Roy sees a barefoot boy running down the street and is determined to learn the boy's story. He discovers that the boy, whose stepsister attends Roy's school, is waging a one-man campaign against the construction of Mother Paula's All-American Pancake House on the site of a burrowing owl nesting area. Roy, with the help of his parents, classmates, other adults, and the barefoot boy, succeeds in halting the construction of the restaurant by revealing the presence of the burrowing owls, a protected species.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Carl Hiaasen's award-winning first effort at young adult fiction is populated with characters that exhibit typical middle-schooler behavior. There are bullies and victims, nerds and jocks, popular kids and the socially inept. The students' lives revolve around school work, sports, and friendships. The adults include parents, some caring and others neglectful , teachers, greedy corporate officials, and small town police officers. Roy Eberhardt, a recent transplant from Montana, is lonely and homesick for the mountains and open spaces he left behind. He loves and respects his parents and vows never to cause them any heartache. Intriguing events associated with the future construction site of a pancake house create tension and moments of hilarity for Roy, his new friend, Beatrice, and the "Public Safety Department" of Coconut Cove. Hiaasen establishes a contemporary setting for Hoot through references to ESPN and basketball teams like the Miami Heat.

The themes of loyalty, courage, friendship, and compassion for others are played out in this story of children banding together to protect a colony of burrowing owls. The subplot about Beatrice's dysfunctional family in contrast to Roy's loving relationship with his parents adds depth to the story and fleshes out these characters. Beatrice's stepbrother, Napolean, is a homeless runaway who wages a war of civil disobedience to stop the construction of a pancake house on the owls' nesting site. He is joined eventually by Roy, Beatrice, and other students from their school in a public protest that draws attention to the plight of the owls and shows that anyone, even kids can make a difference. Young readers will see themselves in one or more of the characters in Hoot and cheer the triumph of the owls over corporate greed.

AWARDS

ABC Children's Booksellers Choices Awards - 2003

Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance Book Awards - 2003

Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award - 2004

Rebecca Caudill Young Reader's Book Award - 2005

REVIEW EXCERPTS
Books in Canada: "Hiaasen delivers a powerful message in a wonderfully engaging fiction that is sure to get young readers thinking about what they can do too."

Booklist: "...the story is full of offbeat humor, buffoonish yet charming supporting characters, and genuinely touching scenes of children enjoying the wildness of nature."

CONNECTIONS
>Explore the environmental impact of a construction project in your area. What animals, plants, and water sources are effected?
>Learn more about the fate of the burrowing owls of southern Florida.
(See http://www.ecofloridamag.com/archived/burrowing_owls.htm )