Customer Reviews

Scat (Thorndike Literacy Bridge Young Adult)

5 star:		(52)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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!

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

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.

As a fourth grade teacher, I read a number of "children's" books to find new reading material for my students. I picked up Scat because many of my students have read or are reading Hoot or Flush.

I found the book to be very entertaining. It was my first book by Carl Hiaasen and now I am intrigued to read more. I am currently working my way through Hoot and I have a new appreciation for the humor now that I have read Scat.

The story is centered around the disappearance of Mrs. Starch while on a field trip and the miraculous change that occurs in the class deliquent, Smoke. Throw in a shady oil company and their illegal drilling operation and the mysterious woodsman on a search for panther poop and you begin to understand the book a little.

I think this book is more appropriate for older readers (11-15 years old). There was some mild language and scenes (a naked man is found painted orange and glued to a tree) that might be inappropriate for younger readers. Additionally, there is some criminal activity (the theft of drilling equipment) that is made to seem allowable since it is done in the name of ecology.

I certainly hope that Mr. Hiaasen will continue to write books for students. They are perfect for encouraging reluctant readers to begin a love of reading.

Carl Hiassen's book Scat is a twistedly funny book. He paints a wonderful picture and really makes you believe in his characters. It is intended for 5th graders into middle school but I am an adult really enjoyed it.

Mrs. Bunny Starch is not the most liked science teacher but when she goes missing her students begin to wonder. Nick and Marta make it their job to find out what exactly happened to her in the Black Vine Swamp. They team up with some unlikely people like Smoke who does not have the best of reputations.

I would recommend this book to ages 10 and up and up. If you are an adult don't think this is a kids book and not for me, particularly if you have any interest in ecological matters.

Carl Hiaasen books are filled with a great personal voice that is humorous and makes the books sound like a regular middle school student. From everything from wacky substitutes, writing papers, going on Facebook, great friends, making new friends, surfing YouTube, to text messaging this book contains everything that fills a middle schooler's life. But in Scat, another ingredient is added. Three kids help unravel some of the strange things going on in Black Vine Swamp, a swamp in the Everglades in Florida. Since the books characters are regular middle school kids who like and do many things that I do, it really made a impression on me. This book showed that kids can really make a difference in saving the enviroment, just like the kids in SCAT did.

I travel frequently in Florida and have always enjoyed Carl Hiaasen stories. I did not see where this story was headed and liked being surprised.

I kept getting distracted by his poor sentence structure and the mind-numbingly annoying repetition of the _full_ names of every character EVERY SINGLE time they spoke or were referenced Character names that don't roll off your tongue, either. Its is a tough book to read aloud for that reason, and I found myself paraphrasing a lot just to make it flow better. I also had an issue with the change in writer's perspective that happened in some scenes. Most of the book is a third person observational narrative, but some scenes change the way characters are referenced. The two main characters, Nick and Marta, suddenly become "the boy named Nick" and "the girl named Marta". I get that he was trying to get the reader inside the mind of the character interacting with those two, but without a consistent pattern of that throughout the book, it really didn't work. I haven't read any others by this author - do they all have a similar style and voice?

In "Scat," Carl Hiaasen sets aside his recent experiments with first-person narration, and delivers his best work in years. For the first time, Hiaasen brings a character from his "adult" novels into his kid-lit world, placing Twilly Spree from "Sick Puppy" in the middle of a mystery involving a missing high school biology teacher, a swamp fire and a pimple-faced classmate who might not turn out to be the thug that he seems.

The first chapter grabbed me with a vivid, almost sickening, recreation of one of those stressful high school classroom moments with a way-too-intense teacher whom everyone feared. The narrative never slows down, but remains accessible to an advanced elementary reader throughout. Adults will enjoy the frequent references to "Sick Puppy" and other classic Hiaasen themes.

In all, another don't-miss event for Hiaasen fans, and a great introduction to a fun author for those who aren't fans yet.

What kid wouldn't be curious about a book entitled "Scat"? This latest offering for children by Carl Hiaasen (Alfred A. Knopf 2009) is a mystery with an environmental motif. Nick, our main protagonist, is a student at the Truman School who desperately wants to see a panther on his biology field trip to the Black Vine Swamp in the Florida Everglades.

Besides Nick, we also meet the plot-driving character, Mrs. Starch, on the first page. Initially, Mrs. Starch appears to be your typical mean teacher. She is stern, demanding and entirely comfortable doling out humiliating punishments. But Mrs. Starch is far from a one-dimensional character. Her passion for biology is readily apparent and as the story moves forward we learn that Mrs. Starch drives a Prius with a "Save the Mantees" bumper sticker. (And anyone who loves cute little manatees can't be all bad, can she?)
During class, Mrs. Starch gets into a tussle with an unpopular and fairly menacing student nicknamed Smoke. Smoke is more interested in picking a zit than in answering her questions about Chapter 8. As punishment she tells him to write a 500 word essay about acne that he will read aloud to the class. In revenge he bites her pencil in two and swallows his half.

The altercation has lasting consequences that are fanned by a fire in the swamp during the field trip. The students clear out and are sent back to school, but Mrs. Starch goes back for a student's dropped inhaler and doesn't return.

Things get weird when Mrs. Starch doesn't show up at school the next day, but the inhaler is mysteriously returned to its owner. Then the Headmaster receives a letter from Mrs. Starch requesting a leave of absence to deal with a family emergency. The strange thing is that she has no family, at least none that she's listed in her employment information. So what's really happened to Truman's toughest teacher?
In a break from convention, the point of view shifts from Nick to various adults in the story. This gives us a wider perspective and introduces us to Smoke's father, grandmother, a couple of scheming oil prospectors, and a wacky but admirable tree hugger.

Full of plot twists, intrigue and suspense, this page-turning crowd-pleaser will delight fans of mysteries and environmental issues alike.