Scat [Hardcover]

Carl Hiaasen (Author)

Book Description

Release date: January 27, 2009 | Age Range: 10 and up

Bestselling author and columnist Carl Hiaasen returns with another hysterical mystery for kids set in Florida's Everglades.
 
Bunny Starch, the most feared biology teacher ever, is missing. She disappeared after a school field trip to Black Vine Swamp. And, to be honest, the kids in her class are relieved.
 
But when the principal tries to tell the students that Mrs. Starch has been called away on a "family emergency," Nick and Marta just don't buy it. No, they figure the class delinquent, Smoke, has something to do with her disappearance.
 
And he does! But not in the way they think. There's a lot more going on in Black Vine Swamp than any one player in this twisted tale can see. And Nick and Marta will have to reckon with an eccentric eco-avenger, a stuffed rat named Chelsea, a wannabe Texas oilman, a singing substitute teacher, and a ticked-off Florida panther before they really begin to see the big picture.
 
That's life in the swamp, kids.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Starred Review. Grade 5–8—Once again, Hiaasen has written an edge-of-the-seat eco-thriller. When their unpopular biology teacher goes missing in a suspicious fire during a field trip to the Black Vine Swamp, Nick and Marta don't buy the headmaster's excuse for her absence and decide to do some investigating of their own. Eco-avengers; an endangered, hunted panther; illegal pipelines in the Everglades; and an underachieving student with the nickname "Smoke" all play a part in this gripping novel. From the first sentence, readers will be hooked. The teens' dangerous detective work, with help from some unlikely sources, and the ethics of environmental awareness are well balanced. The emotion and personal changes that Nick goes through due to his father's injury in Iraq are on their own a worthy study of the struggles that military families are facing today. This well-written and smoothly plotted story, with fully realized characters, will certainly appeal to mystery lovers.—Dylan Thomarie, Johnstown High School, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Hiaasen starts off this story—a hybrid madcap swamp adventure and cast-driven environmental whodunit—with the disappearance of a biology teacher after a fire breaks out during a field trip in the Everglades. The immediate suspect for the fire, at least, is a young miscreant, but friends Nick and Marta figure something else is afoot: it might have something to do with the nefarious oilmen slinking about nearby, as well as the rumor of an endangered panther and her cubs in the swamp. A generous cast of characters—each imbued with a few unexpected traits—flits about and provides most of the impetus to keep things rolling. Adding some emotional heft is the subplot involving Nick’s father; he returns home from Iraq minus his right arm, and Nick binds his own arm so that they can learn to become lefties together. Hiaasen’s gumbo tastes a lot like his previous efforts, pitting conservation against reckless greed and setting the can-do of youth among determined Floridian quirkiness. But there’s a reason why a recipe tastes so good time and again. Grades 5-8. --Ian Chipman

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers; First Edition edition (January 27, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375834869
• ISBN-13: 978-0375834868
• Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 1.6 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (141 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #242,059 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Carl Hiaasen was born and raised in Florida, where he still lives with his incredibly tolerant family and numerous personal demons.

A graduate of the University of Florida, at age 23 he joined The Miami Herald as a general assignment reporter and went on to work for the paper's weekly magazine and later its prize-winning investigations team. Since 1985 Hiaasen has been writing a regular column, which at one time or another has pissed off just about everybody in South Florida, including his own bosses. He has outlasted almost all of them, and his column still appears on most Sundays in The Herald's opinion-and-editorial section. It may be viewed online at www.miamiherald.com or in the actual printed edition of the newspaper, which, miraculously, is still being published.

For his journalism and commentary, Hiaasen has received numerous state and national honors, including the Damon Runyon Award from the Denver Press Club. His work has also appeared in many well-known magazines, including Sports Illustrated, Playboy, Time, Life, Esquire and, most improbably, Gourmet.

In the early 1980s, Hiaasen began writing novels with his good friend and distinguished journalist, the late William D. Montalbano. Together they produced three mystery thrillers -- Powder Burn, Trap Line and Double Whammy -- which borrowed heavily from their own reporting experiences.

Tourist Season, published in 1986, was Hiaasen's first solo novel. GQ magazine called it "one of the 10 best destination reads of all time," although it failed to frighten a single tourist away from Florida, as Hiaasen had hoped it might. His next effort, Double Whammy, was the first (and possibly the only) novel about sex, murder and corruption on the professional bass-fishing circuit.

Since then, Hiaasen has published nine others -- Skin Tight, Native Tongue, Strip Tease, Stormy Weather, Lucky You, Sick Puppy, Basket Case, Skinny Dip, The Downhill Lie and Nature Girl. Hiaasen made his children's book debut with Hoot (2002), which was awarded a Newbery Honor and spent more than two years on the New York Times bestseller lists. For young readers he went on to write the bestselling Flush (2005) and, most recently Scat (January 2009). The film version of Hoot was released in 2006, directed by Wil Shriner and produced by Jimmy Buffett and Frank Marshall. ("Hoot" is now available on DVD).

Hiaasen is also responsible for Team Rodent (1998), a wry but unsparing rant against the Disney empire and its creeping grip on the American entertainment culture. In 2008, Hiaasen came back to nonfiction with The Downhill Lie: A Hacker's Return to a Ruinous Sport. The book chronicles his harrowing and ill-advised reacquaintance with golf after a peaceful, 32-year absence.

Together, Hiaasen's novels have been published in 34 languages, which is 33 more than he is able to read or write. Still, he has reason to believe that all the foreign translations are brilliantly faithful to the original work. The London Observer has called him "America's finest satirical novelist," while Janet Maslin of the New York Times has compared him to Preston Sturges, Woody Allen and S.J. Perelman. Hiaasen re-reads those particular reviews no more than eight or nine times a day.

To prove that he doesn't just make up all the sick stuff in his fiction, Hiaasen has also published two collections of his newspaper columns, Kick A** and Paradise Screwed, both courageously edited by Diane Stevenson and faithfully kept in print by the University Press of Florida.

One of Hiaasen's previous novels, Strip Tease, became a major motion-picture in 1996 starring Demi Moore, and directed by Andrew Bergman. Despite what some critics said, Hiaasen continues to insist that the scene featuring Burt Reynolds slathered from his neck to his toes with Vaseline is one of the high points in modern American cinema.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 51 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for the Classroom March 14, 2009

By J. E. Stephens VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I teach 6th Grade Reading and this book is perfect for this age group. I loved it too so don't be afraid to read it if you are an adult.

The school setting and the stern teacher who disappears on a field trip will appeal to young readers. I particularly liked the sub plot with the Iraqi veteran. It added a timely dimension to the story.

I live in Florida and I have actually seen a Florida panther in the wild. They are very rare, and you really feel special if you get the chance to see one. If you live anywhere and love wildlife, you will love this story!

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Novel for Young Readers January 27, 2009

By Stacey Cochran

Format:Hardcover

Newbery Honor Winner Carl Hiaasen returns to Middle Grades Fiction with SCAT (following Hoot and Flush) a mystery/comedy set in Florida. It is ideal for readers age 10-13, but has a well-plotted mystery that could entertain adult readers as well (particularly Hiaasen's fans).

It all begins when Mrs. Bunny Starch, feared Biology teacher, disappears during a school field trip to the Black Vine Swamp -- where an illegal and undercover oil-drilling operation is taking place. Mrs. Starch regularly embarrasses and intimidates her students, so there's no shortage of suspects who may have had a hand in her disappearance.

It's up to two adventurous students -- Nick and Marta -- to solve the mystery. They must navigate a web of weird characters -- an eccentric eco-avenger, a juvenile delinquent named Smoke, a crooked oil prospector, and an endangered Florida panther -- in order to solve the mystery.

SCAT is a page-turner with heart, humor, and adventure. A good book for both boys and girls, filled with the kind of wacky characters with which Hiaasen has built his career.

You might consider checking out the film version of Hoot (New Line Platinum Series), too. Enjoy!

Stacey Cochran
Author of CLAWS available for 80 Cents

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Another winner by Hiaasen February 19, 2009

By Bort

Format:Hardcover

Scat is Carl Hiaasen's third book for young readers, following Hoot and Flush. In this novel, like his others, he focuses on environmentalism and Florida, but he also tones down the content compared with his regular novels.

Scat follows the story of Nick and Marta, two high school students, who are in Mrs. Starch's biology class. Mrs. Starch is legendary as the strictest teacher in the school, with a singular focus on teaching biology. One day, she takes her biology classes on a vacation to a local swamp. While they are there, a mysterious swamp fire stars, forcing the trip to an abrupt end. After the students return to school, they realize that Mrs. Starch has not returned. The next day, principal reassures the students that Mrs. Starch had to leave due to a family emergency, but this excuse does not sit well with Nick. First of all, he is not aware of Mrs. Starch having any family, and also she had been previously threatened by Dwayne "Smoke" Scrod, a rebellious student who had a run-in with her.

Nick decided to investigate Mrs. Starch's disappearance and brings Marta along to help. They begin by visiting her house on the outskirts of town, but are chased away by a mysterious man named Twilly Spree. Although they (as well as the police) suspect Smoke to be involved with Mrs. Starch's disappearance, Nick is baffled when Smoke suddenly visits to borrow his biology book. To further this improbable connection, Smoke seeks out Nick to tell Nick that he is innocent as he runs from the police who have come to apprehend him at school. Nick and Marta's search for Mrs. Starch adds a new dimension as they try to figure out if Smoke was telling the truth.

Then of course, there is the environmental element. A man named Drake McBride from a rich family is determined to prove to his father that he is not a total failure, even though everything he has ever done suggests this. He stakes out a claim to drill for oil, then comes up with a scheme to make money from the government even though his claim has not panned out. However, he runs against obstacles as his project is repeatedly sabotaged and his employees have strange things happen to them.

Like all of Carl Hiaasen's books, Scat is filled with a variety of eccentric characters. Nick and Marta are the regular people, who get sucked into the plot to help save the environment. Drake McBride is funny, with his faux Texas cowboy act, while Dr. Dressler, the principal of Nick and Marta's school, is a stereotypical administrator who is solely out to cover his own butt when anything goes wrong. The list goes on, with the Scrod family (including a rich grandmother), Dr. Waxmo, a very strange substitute teacher, and of course Mrs. Starch.

The plot of Scat moves very quickly, as Hiaasen weaves in various subplots, such as Nick's father serving in Iraq and Nick's fascination with the Florida panther. Hiaasen also takes care to help readers picture the Florida setting he cares so much about. It adds up to a thoroughly interesting novel.