WERMS
30) Hoot (Carl Hiassen)
the setting was in an out of this world place called Florida. Mother Paula’s all-American House of Pancakes, home of the world-famous mouthwatering licorice oatmeal flapjack and the lots, which is probaby second best to IHOP, is planning to put up a franchise in Coconut Cove. the corner between Woodbury and East Oriole seems like a perfect construction site for the project, only it’s also home to a bunch of burrowing cute little owls. and under existing state and federal law, it is illegal to shatter their idyll and disturb active burrows without getting special goverment permits. and so here started the chaotic adventure of the book. you can just imagine the conflict and dilemma. owls vs pancakes!
entered the sleuths of our three quirky heroes, them ‘juvies’ determined to keep the catastrophe of Mother Paula’s Pancake House from happening. they are Roy, Beatrice, and Mullet Fingers.
Roy “cowgirl” Eberhardst reminds us of how curious and inquisitive kids can be. in Trace Middle, he fell victim to a bully named Dana Matherson, his arch nemesis. and it was pretty hilarious witnessing how cowgirl mooned and outwit him everytime. Roy is a smart kid. the kind of kid who would stand up to goverments and authorities. he would lie and stab for friendships sake, and is willing to be an outlaw no matter how he used to be a shy and a fade-in-the-background kind of kid, just to prove himself and his causes. it taught me in the book to be always nice to girls. because there’s the case of Beatrice Leep, who is a tough and a difficult lass who’s also a student of Trace Middle. be careful around a girl like Beatrice. but there’s also incredible perks if you’re friendly to her. cos if you are nice to her, who by the way is the head of the soccer team and she’s all that sporty and cute and strong and not girly and self conscious, there’s a chance she would pin Dana and tie him naked by the flagpole and just spare you the trouble of bullies from pestering your life ever again. she is good in sneaking in your bedroom, biking, and the swell stuff girls do, especially being a good sister to her stepbrother Mullet Fingers. Mullet Fingers. the proverbial son of the wild. the boy who run so fast with bare feet that caught Roy’s attention and started the whole story. he is the real outlaw. a street smart. a saviour of owls and just a plain, undaunted kid. more than Roy, he is the real hero of this book for me. them kids and lots of other quirky characters that would make your mouths drop from laughing.
this book is about standing up to your beliefs, that friends are all worth it, and teaches us to not stop caring not only with each other but also to other living creatures of this planet.
with all the good, tearjerking novels that we read all the time -and i’m not complaining, it’s good to have a good laugh sometimes and a have a break with a funny and offbeat, wacky book like Hoot. a four and a tiny half hoots for this one.
