Scat

Carl Hiaasen makes me want to move to Florida and live out of a canoe, traveling around the Ten Thousand Islands and savoring the vast (but last) sprawling wildernesses of southern Florida. He is the sage of the saw palmetto, the bard of the bromeliads, the patron saint of the panther, the defender of the endangered, the troubadour of the deranged, and the banging bell of sanity amidst the insanity that destroys Florida's natural beauty and develops its malls, condos, and golf courses.Hiaasen is a good and wonderfully original writer, whether he is writing his seriously disturbed, disturbing, and completely entertaining and enlightening novels for adults (my favorites are Lucky You and Basket Case) or his marvelously engaging novels for young readers, Hoot, Flush, and now Scat. I've loved all his books for kids and Scat is another winner, sure to engage any reader over age ten from start to finish. Hiaasen creates normal but exceedingly brave and honest characters as well as nut job characters on a mission, both evil and angelic. He places his characters within a uniquely Floridian landscape and lets the story take off. Scat takes off in a blaze, and kept me fired up straight through to the end. Hiaasen is always able to slip into his stories rock-hard lessons on integrity, respect, sorrow, and bravery, as well as running a line of unquenchable spirit, both human and of nature, that pulses through the chapters. Best of all, he makes every novel one big wonderful ride and read.If you read everything Hiaasen ever wrote, you'd still be begging for more and I hope he keeps on writing for decades, relying on Seminole wisdom and Florida spirit and whatever else it takes to get the job done.For more reviews, go to [...]

One of the legacies of J.K. Rowling and the Harry Potter books is a virtual glut of so-called "young adult" literature that can appeal to both kids and adults. The problem is that not all writers, even those successful at "adult" fiction, can write for this particular audience (for example, Michael Chabon is generally a good writer, but his attempt at this genre, Summerland, falls flat). Fortunately, Carl Hiaasen is not one of these lacking writers, as demonstrated in his first foray, Hoot and again in his new book, Scat.The main character in Scat is Nick, a mid-teens Florida kid concerned about his father, a reservist in Iraq. These concerns are justified but are also competing with a more local concern: the disappearance of the dreaded Mrs. Starch, Nick's drill sergeant of a biology teacher. Mrs. Starch has vanished after a field trip to the local swamp that had been concerned by a fire that turns out to be caused by arson.The prime suspect for the arson is Duane Scrod, Nick's classmate and a known troublemaker who has also vanished after a nasty argument with Starch. Duane has had previous arrests for arson and has a nickname of Smoke, so things don't look good for him. Of course, there's more to Smoke than meets the eye, and there is another suspicious party: a shady oil exploration company that has a scam that involves digging in a nature preserve.Similar to Hoot, Scat also deals with a threatened animal, in this case, the Florida panther. And like almost all Hiaasen books, a major theme involves overdevelopment and the destruction of Florida's natural beauty. And like all Hiaasen books, this is a fun read, with a lot of humor and some more serious moments as well. Though tamer than Hiaasen's adult work (i.e., no real sex or violence), this will appeal to most people, regardless of age.

Scat ended up being hilarious and I'm glad I read it. It also takes place in Florida, a state where I used to live and spend a good deal of time so that attracted me as well.So Scat follows a Florida kid named Nick, whom I guessed to be around 14 or so and whose father is on reserve in Iraq and his friend Marta. So one day Nick and his class are on a field trip when the swamp that they're visiting catches fire. Mrs. Starch — the feared and unliked biology teacher, vanishes into the fire to retrieve an inhaler that a student had dropped. The bus leaves without Mrs. Starch as she came in her own car.The next school day, the principal tells the students that Mrs. Starch has been called away on a "family emergency," but Nick and Marta aren't buying it — especially once that discover that Mrs. Starch has no family so they feel that there's something very fishy about Bunny Starch's disappearance.They figure the scary, pencil-eating class delinquent, Smoke, who has a history of starting fires, has something to do with her disappearance, especially once authorities state that the fire was due to arson. But they're not the only ones who suspect that Smoke started the fire. But there's more to Smoke than meets the eye.But there's also a lot more that goes on in the book: there's the dodgy oil exploration company run by a shady, nefarious fellow who is scamming the state by installing illegal pipelines in the Everglades, which is a nature preserve, there's an endangered panther that's being hunted, the strange eco-avenging wilderness man who seems to be sabotaging the oil company's efforts, and of course, the mystery of what in the hell happened to Bunny Stark.This madcap book was quite a wild romp - an edge-of-your-seat gripping thrill ride that had me interested — and laughing until the end, as it was hysterically funny in many places with a great cast of characters. I thought the premise of this book was fascinating, and Carl Hiaasen turns this premise into an exciting, fast-paced eco-thriller that I had a hard time putting down.Though this was a light-hearted enjoyable romp, the book does touch on some serious issues as well such as war, crime, environment preservation, amputation and neglectful parents but does so in a smooth way so as not to make the novel unnecessarily grim or frightening, as this is a middle-grade book, after all. And as many of us like to see in our Middle-grade reads, the bad guys get it good in the end.I do believe that is is part of a four-book middle-grade series that I definitely will be checking out. I also want to check out some of his adult fiction as well.This review originally posted to my book review blog at rogersreads.com

This guy will keep me up all night. Can't find a stopping point, and he does it without swear words.

As a teacher librarian, I love Carl Hiaasen’s books for kids. His writing style is both humorous and informative. The environmental themes are great discussion points. His characters, the plot, the setting, and the empowerment of kids’ problem solving have interested even the most reluctant readers in my classrooms.

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

Read it in three sittings. Having recently spent two weeks in Collier County, visiting from England, it was recommended by my sister in law who is doing her part in protecting the local habitat and wildlife. I could identify with the descriptions of the places the story was set and felt for the plight of the endangered animals portrayed in the book. The story had unexpected twists and turns and kept up a pace. I would recommend it to any age group.

Da ist er wieder.'Wer Hiassen mag, der mag ihn halt, und der mag auch dieses Buch.Da ich alle Bücher von ihm kenne, würde ich diesen Titel so in etwa bei 7-8 auf der 10er Skala einordnen.Kaufen!

I have read a number of Carl Hiaasen books and wanted to see if his writing style changed much when his audience was younger. I am pleased to report that it was only marginally different and proved to be a most enjoyable read.