September 9, 2002
Lowe's audiobook repertoire (most recently Big Mouth & Ugly Girl) grows with this unhurried, optimistic reading of bestselling author Hiaasen's debut work for young readers. Since his parents move around a lot, Roy Eberhardt is used to being the new kid at school. But when he and his family settle in Florida, being hassled by the school bully lands Roy in the middle of an ecological mystery. While taking a pummeling on the bus, Roy becomes fascinated with a boy he sees running in the street. The boy turns out to be a homeless, neglected kid who uses unorthodox tactics to save a local owl habitat from being developed as a pancake house. Roy inadvertently gets caught up in the boy's sometimes-humorous conservation efforts, with eventually positive results. With his youthful voice, Lowe again serves up a realistic portrayal of these young protagonists. The combination of a solid vocal performance and Hiaasen's stable of quirky characters will likely keep young listeners hooked, and established Hiaasen fans amused. Simultaneous release with the Knopf hardcover.
Ages 10-up.
May 17, 2004
"With a Florida setting and pro-environment, anti-development message, Hiaasen returns to familiar turf for his first novel for young readers," wrote PW
. "Several suspenseful scenes, along with dollops of humor, help make this quite a hoot indeed." Ages 10-up.
June 24, 2002
With a Florida setting and proenvironment, antidevelopment message, Hiaasen (Sick Puppy) returns to familiar turf for his first novel for young readers. Characteristically quirky characters and comic twists will surely gain the author new fans, though their attention may wander during his narrative's intermittently protracted focus on several adults, among them a policeman and the manager of a construction site for a new franchise of a pancake restaurant chain. Both men are on a quest to discover who is sabotaging the site at night, including such pranks as uprooting survey stakes, spray-painting the police cruiser's windows while the officer sleeps within and filling the portable potties with alligators. The story's most intriguing character is the boy behind the mischief, a runaway on a mission to protect the miniature owls that live in burrows underneath the site. Roy, who has recently moved to Florida from Montana, befriends the homeless boy (nicknamed Mullet Fingers) and takes up his cause, as does the runaway's stepsister. Though readers will have few doubts about the success of the kids' campaign, several suspenseful scenes build to the denouement involving the sitcom-like unraveling of a muckity-muck at the pancake house. These, along with dollops of humor, help make the novel quite a hoot indeed. Ages 10-up.