Hoot by Carl Hiaasen

Roy has just moved to another new town and school in Coconut Grove, Florida.  He is experiencing bullying on the school bus when he notices a strange barefoot boy running alongside the bus.  He starts to investigate who the boy is and discovers that he is protecting owls that are living on a future construction site.  Will they be able to save the owls?  Will Roy make new friends and learn to love Florida?

Another main part of the story is Officer Delinko.  He is trying to figure out who is vandalizing the construction site with much humor.

My nine-year-old son Daniel and twelve-year-old son Kile read this book for the Kewaunee Library Youth Book Club.  Daniel really enjoyed it and in fact we kept reading it at night instead of his actual book he was supposed to read for school I learned later.    We still “flip flop” read with Daniel reading two pages and then me reading two pages.  Kile reads on his own.  Kile said the book was “meh” although he read it awful fast.  He is more into fantasy and sci-fi books.

Daniel liked the light swearing that was in the novel, much to my dismay.  He really enjoyed the story and had a hard time stopping the reading at night.  Sometimes he would read me to sleep!

I enjoyed that it was a unique story.  I liked that it was a good look at what it means to construct a new facility without looking at the land and what naturally resides at that location – it was a good environmental lesson.  Besides an environmental take, it was a good story of how Roy learned to enjoy his new home in Florida after moving from Montana and to enjoy the natural environment and all its glory.   

Overall, it was an enjoyable story with light humor.  We watched the movie last weekend and Daniel was very irked that the changed the ending so much but enjoyed it as well.

Book Source:  Kewaunee Public Library