Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that there is some mild violence and swearing here, and that, while the adults are mostly portrayed negatively, the heroes don't always behave honestly either.
Families who read this book could discuss the issues raised here concerning the conflict between environmental and economic concerns. How should we balance our human needs with those of tha natural world? What do you think of the ways the characters acted to protect the owls? Realistic? What would you have done? Families who see the movie may want to compare and contrast the two. Which version do you like better? What would you have done differently?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Matt Berman
It's harder to write great children's literature than you might think. Carl Hiaasen may be a superb adult author, but in his first foray into children's books he's pretty much painting by numbers. Let's see -- lots of stupid and venal adults, check. Cute animals, check. Kid hero on his own, tough girl with heart of gold, check check. Mean bully, check. Fart jokes, check. Evil corporation, check. Stupid adults won over by cute animals and plucky kid heroes, check. Yup it's all here. So why doesn't it add up to more?
Despite all that, and an ending that will be a little too Huck Finn for some readers' tastes, HOOT is a modestly involving story with likable enough characters, and it even occasionally manages the stirring of an emotion of two. And parents will appreciate that, among all the usual bumbling and venal adults, Roy's parents stand out as caring, concerned, intelligent, and ultimately supportive. In another example of the Newbery Committee's unfathomable criteria, HOOT was selected as an Honor Book for 2003.
From the Book:
Dana Matherson was digging his fingernails into Roy's scalp, trying to make him squeal, but Roy barely felt a thing. He was gripped with curiosity as the running boy dashed through one neat green yard after another, getting smaller in Roy's vision as he put a wider distance between himself and the school bus.
Plot Summary:
Roy is the new kid in school, and is already being picked on by the school bully, Dana. But one day, while having his face mashed against the bus window, he sees a mysterious barefoot boy running away from the bus and school. Roy tracks him down and discovers, among other things that the boy, who calls himself Mullet Fingers, is committing acts of vandalism against a construction site where they plan to build a pancake restaurant on a site where rare and endangered burrowing owls are nesting.
Meanwhile, in dealing with Dana, Roy finds that getting the better of him only seems to make him more dangerous. Fortunately he finds an ally in Beatrice, Mullet Finger's stepsister, who's even tougher than Dana. And Mullet's pranks, rather than discouraging the foreman of the construction crew, seems to be making him more dangerous as well.
Related Books:
Also by Carl Hiaasen
Flush
Kids Saving Endangered Animals
Naomi's Geese by Sanford Evans
California Blue by David Klass
The Fledglings by Sandra Markle
The Silent Spillbills by Tor Seidler
The Maze by Will Hobbs
Related Websites
Info on Burrowing Owls
| Content | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CS | adults | kids | ||
Sexual Content |
 |
|
|
|
ViolenceSeveral fights, a broken nose, a gun, a gory snowmobile accident, some domestic violence. |
 |
|
|
|
LanguageA few mild curses. |
|
|
|
|
Message |
|
 |
|
|
Social BehaviorMost of the adults are stupid, venal, and self-serving. The heroes cut school, lie, run away from home, and vandalize a construction site for a good cause. |
 |
 |
|
|
CommercialismA few brand names mentioned: Reeboks, IHOP, etc. |
|
|
 |
|
Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoA delinquent teen smokes. |
|
|
|
|
