Scat by Carl Hiaasen

I was just perusing the NY Times top 15 for the week and saw this! It is #4 on the children's chapter book list. I love Carl Hiassen for just pure fun. He now writes children's books too (targeted for ages 9-12 or so). I thought Hoot was awesome and cracked up the entire way through. Even though these are for kids, I challenge any adult (who enjoys the eco-friendly subject matter especially) not to enjoy them. Plus, I can give them to my niece (almost eight years old) when I'm done. She's getting to be a grand reader.

I'm not even sure what it's about yet and don't really care. I just needed a breather from the heady, serious stuff and this will fit the bill:



Review to follow.

Carolyn
Admin

Review of Scat by Carl Hiaasen (c. 2009)

Another fun eco-mystery of sorts from Carl Hiaasen. I did not like this one quite as much as Hoot, but it was still a great read for young (and young at heart) readers. I like the way he generally works in a character or two who come from broken homes and go on to be local heros, and good people. He makes it seem like you can truimph over advserity as long as your heart is in the right place. As in Hoot, the kids are smart, intuitive and very into saving the endangered species of the Everglades area, this time the Florida Panther. One of the best characters in ages though is the stern school teacher who turns out to be someone quite different than the students thought, Ms. Bunny Starch. There is some grim reality too, e.g., the main character's Dad is injured in the Iraq war; and not all of the animals are saved from corporate greed and habitat destruction. Overall, I reccomend this one for the young, eco-friendly reader or anyone who likes reading about endangered animals.

3 stars out of 5

Carolyn
Admin