In this Newberry Honor novel, middle school student Roy tackles is trying to make friends and deal with a bully at his new school after his family moves from Montana to Florida, when he sees a barefoot boy running from the school bus stop. Roy learns that the barefoot boy (nicknamed Mullet Fingers for his talent at catching mullet fish) has been playing pranks on the construction site of a future Mother Paula’s All-American Pancake House to prevent bulldozers from digging up the nests of burrowing owls and their babies.
In the tradition of Edward Abbey’s Monkey Wrench Gang, Mullet Fingers has been vandalizing the construction site and his antics escalate. He adds alligators to the portable toilet tanks and releases cottonmouth moccasins (with their mouths taped shut so they can’t bite anyone and blue glitter on their tails so he can retrieve them to be freed). In the end, a team effort by Roy, Mullet Fingers, Mullet Fingers’ stepsister Beatrice, and Roy’s father that saves the day. Roy stages a school-wide protest in front of the press and his father discovers that Mother Paula’s corporate office hid a biologist’s report on the owls, which are protected by law.
Like Hiaasen’s humorous mysteries for adults, Hoot made me whoop aloud with its complex characters hilarious hijinks. Although the characters are middle schoolers, the intricact story and the thought with which Hiaasen crafts even the most-minor of his characters, will win over readers of all ages. (Frankly, this book is better written than some bestsellers). Tweens and teens — especially those who are interested in the environment, who have changed schools a lot, or are victims of bullies — will especially enjoy this book. Teachers will find this book offers fodder for discussion on the intersection of environmental preservation and development and how politics influences environmental policy.
This book was hard to put down because I wanted to know what the barefoot boy would try next and how Roy would deal with the bully Dana, who gets his comeuppance, and Beatrice, whose initial actions to protect her stepbrother are bully-like. Hiaasen’s prose keeps the story moving forward with believable dialog, especially Ray’s conversations with his parents and his peers, and just enough description so the reader has the scene in his mind but the action does not slow. Hoot was made into a movie in 2006. After watching the trailer, I can see why it flopped.
Hiaasen has two other YA novels, Flush (2005) and Scat (2009). Hiaasen, who started his writing career at The Miami Herald, before moving to that newspaper’s magazine, writes a column for the paper — Just in case teen readers run out of his YA books. His adult mysteries are always a hoot and a holler but may not be to teens’ taste.
- 2002
- Publisher: lfred A. Knopf
- Pages: 292 pp
- Ages: 10 and up, though its recommended for middle-school age
- Genre: Contemporary realistic fiction with lots of humor and a dash of mystery
- Help for teachers: Try Margaret Whisnant’s Hoot by Carl Hiaasen A Novel Teaching Pack
Pulp & Pixels 