Hoot

Rating:
Summary: Florida
Review: A humorous study of the many sides of Florida. This book uses symbolism in every other paragraph. But I have read better novels. The line between cheeseyness and courage in this novel is occasionally curiously thin and blurred.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: This book was recommended to me by Amazon.com after buying other books for my 11 year old son. We both read it and I have to say it was a great story for kids as well as adults.. Carl Hiaasen deserved the Newberry award that he recently won for this!! I would love to find more books like it. Thank you for the recommendation!!

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful, fast-moving mystery for young people
Review: Who hasn't experienced rejected, the fear of making new friends in a new school? Kids immediately identify with Roy. What about being picked on? School bullies? A girl who is tough and defends you? And is Roy wrongly accused of a crime?
Great read for boys and girls. A sure hit!
Evelyn Horan- teacher/author
Jeannie, A Texas Frontier Girl, Book One
Jeannie, A Texas Frontier Girl, Book Two

Rating:
Summary: A great book to share with your child
Review: my husband and I have been longtime fans of Carl Hiaasen's books for adults. They mix a motley crew of characters with an entertaining story line. When we saw that Hiaasen has written a book for children, we could not resist and enjoyed introducing Hiaasen to our 9 year old son. There are not many books we can read together and this was a great choice, enjoyed by all. Not a book adults have to "tolerate" for the sake of the child or that kids pretend to like to please their parents. Brought back the enjoyment of reading together with an older child who reads alone most of the time.

Rating:
Summary: This one pleased my kid!
Review: I gave Hoot to my 10 year old as a Christmas gift. She reluctantly picked it up and began to read. Despite her reluctance, she then never put it down until the end, at which point she turned to me and said, "THIS is the kind of book I like! Can you get me more?" I'd say that was a pretty good review.

Rating:
Summary: This will be the best childrens book that you will buy
Review: It's a hard life for Roy Eberhardt. Moving from Montana, Roy experiences great difficulties in Florida, mostly a fat cigarette smoking chump named Dana Matherson. While being beaten on the way to school, Ray see's a kid. The kid has no shoes. From this point on Roy is determined to figure out what his case is. Along the way, he meets Beatrice "The bear" Leep, who helps on his cause, and Garret, an [imitation] comedian. As this is all happening, an officer, David Delinko, is investigating a vandalism at mother paula's pancake house. Is this connected with the boy?
Overall, this book is a FANTASTIC mystery that you wont be able to put down. It is great for all ages. You will wish that there was a sequel!

Rating:
Summary: a HOOT of a book
Review: Roy Eberhardt is the new kid around Trace Middle School. One day as he is riding the bus to school big-time bully Dana Matherson pushes Roy's head against the window. Roy sees a boy running down the sidewalk. This boy has no shoes on and is wearing a faded basketball jersey. Roy thinks he is going to get on the bus at the next stop but he doesn't . As any boy would be, Roy is intrigued. While the bus is still at the stop, Roy gets up and tears himself away from Dana. Dana asks if he has had enough pushing, and Roy responds by punching him in the nose and running out of the bus. This is just the beginning of an exciting and wonderful adventure.
I could not put this book down from the time started it 'till the time I finished it. I liked it so much because you experience what it is like to be a new kid in school and also what it is like to not go to school. Carl Hiaasen did a great job and this book is just a HOOT!

Henry Lewers, Thirteen

Rating:
Summary: 4 1/2 WHAT A HOOT!
Review: You MUST read this book. Not many books are filled with tons of witty remarks & cleverness, yet can still keep a steady flow of a dang diddly-darned good plot.

My favorite punchline of the whole book has to be:
"My dad works for the government." "That's swell. My dad eats 'Hot Pockets' & stares at ESPN."

Amongst all of that, I choose to give this book four and a half stars because the ending could've been a little better...They should've completely tipped off the bad guys. Something better than holding hands, please! (It'll make sense when you read it)

Overall, I have to say this: the kid's fiction world is largely dominated by a boy magician & some guy named Snicket, but Hiaasen beats both of them out with "Hoot."

Rating:
Summary: Hoot is a hoot!
Review: Hoot is telltale proof that not is only is Carl Hiaasen a great editorial columnist, writer of novels featuring the dregs of South Florida's crime wave, but is also a refreshing and talented writer of children's literature. I wish that he would write at least 19 additional books like Hoot, even if they never wander far from the Hiaasen fare of ecological revenge and sappy hoodlums and developers. Hoot turned me into a permanent fan of Carl Hiaasen.

This book has all the elements of pubescent embarrassment I endured growing up. Mullet Fingers would be my hero and probably my best friend, as he escapes an abusive family and lives in the wild, surviving with the help of sister Beatrice Leep. I relate to Roy as the kid who always gets caught, beat up, and harrassed by domineering males and females. Hoot really hits home.

I recommend Hoot to anyone struggling to become a reader of books, but without the maturity to sit still more than a few minutes. I couldn't put Hoot down, and finished it at 2am. Some of the characters in Hiaasen's adult level reading novels seem fabricated or introduced to fulfill missions of the main characters, but all the folks in Hoot are people I've known, are entirely realistic, and are unpredictable-the same as real folk.

Carl Hiaasen has discovered his genre-children's literature, and if I have anything to do about it, purchasing every one he writes and recommending them to kids, he will be successful and in demand as long as he's alive. J.K. Who? I think the word now is HOOT!

Rating:
Summary: Terrific!
Review: Finally I've found a book I think my teen-age nephew may actually read and enjoy, other than the Harry Potter series. Hiaasen is always hilarious, poking fun at those who deserve it most, and now he's put his talents to work for younger readers. I'm in my 30s and loved it and it was passed on to me by a colleague in her 50s who loved it. I figure it's a good read for anyone from eight on up. It's a fun book with a message, but it never gets preachy. Parents might also be interested to know that it shows a very loving and respectful relationship between the middle-school hero and his mother and father. Other parents in the book - - as in life - - definitely have their faults, and this kid can see how lucky he is.