Hoot

 

Hiaasen, C. (2002). Hoot. New York: Yearling.

LS5360: Newbery, Notable, and NY Times Bestseller

My kids always liked Hiaasen’s books when they were younger, so I chose Hoot to see what all the hub-bub was about.  I liked it, though as a parent, I thought the use of swear words was unnecessary, and I wasn’t crazy about the fact that most of the adults in the book were portrayed negatively.  Even so, the environmental message is a good one, and it’s well written.  Hiaasen used several literary devices to contribute to the overall quality of the story, including foreshadowing (Officer Delinko incident) and a bit of irony (for example, in Curly, one of the foremen at the construction site).