The following is a review by a long-time Hiaasen reader for other such readers considering picking up "Hoot":

Having read nearly all of Carl Hiaasen's adult novels (only excepting "Sick Puppy"), I was excited to receive a new Hiaasen novel for Christmas, his first children's book.

While it's definitely a Carl Hiaasen novel, he pulled some punches in the work that make it one of his lesser titles. It wasn't his strongly pro-environment stance (present and in a version that everyone can relate to, even adult readers who were ready for an example of Florida's problems that doesn't involve draining the Everglades, as serious of an issue as that is) nor his eye for detail (a hair on the lip of a middle school vice-principal ranks up there with one of the classic Hiaasen bits of all time), but his characters.

In every other Hiaasen novel, there is at least one hilariously odd character who helps break up the seriousness of the work by their misguided insanity, whether it's the hit man commiting murder for plastic surgery in "Skin Graft," the hapless Hooters-besotted would-be white supremacists in "Lucky You" or any of the rock industry hangers-on in "Basket Case."

While these characters traditionally help break up the sometimes instense stories, they're also one of the places where Hiaasen's manic sense of humor gets a chance to shine. Without it being present in "Hoot," the book feels like the author (or maybe an editor) was holding him back. And as a result, the various non-kid characters seem somewhat depressingly pathetic. (Honestly, do we need more than two adults who are about to lose their jobs, when one of them is a perfectly nice individual who's just stuck in the middle of this chaos?)

Which isn't to say that "Hoot" isn't a good book -- it's a great one, one that pre-teens and up will enjoy (although there might be a few parents who take issue with the single swear word and Hiaasen's strongly anti-authority stance) and one that long time Hiaasen novels will find well worth picking up.

I especially look forward to Hiaasen's next work of fiction -- one could almost feel his creative juices being recharged by doing this somewhat different sort of novel. While his usual rogue environmentalist, Skink, has gotten very tired, he creates a kid-appropriate substitute in "Hoot," and makes him the central focus of the story. I hope we'll see more of Mullet Fingers and the Eberhardts in his adult novels.

Recommended for Hiaasen fans and for readers 12 and up.

Hiaasen takes a while to get into the kid lit groove. The first third of the book seems a bit confused, as Hiaasen fights his urge to steer his characters into his usual adults-only mayhem. He fashions a protagonist who is unreasonably precocious and spends too much time setting up adult characters.

And then, when Roy's mother has a bed-time heart-to-heart with her son, Hiaasen finds his groove. The rest of the book flies (pardon the pun) as Hiaasen finds the right balance of madcap action for the "tween" reader.

Adults who are put off by profanity will find this an appropriate introduction to Hiaasen's sly humor and progressive outlook. And kids who can make it through the first third of the book will find thei reward in a heart-warming and hilarious epilogue.

If you read "The Lorax" to your children as toddlers, give them "Hoot" when they start reading novels. They'll love it.

Being a fan of Mr. Hiaasen's wonderfully twisted, weird fiction for adults, I was intrigued by the idea of him writing for a younger audience. Would there be a crazed, hulking idiot with a dead pit bull hanging off his arm? A roadkill-eating former governor? How would he present his somewhere-between-amused-and-disgusted attitude toward humanity in a manner palatable to kids?

I'm happy to report that HOOT is funny, well written, and enjoyable, even for a depraved old lady like me. The plot concerns Roy Eberhardt, an intelligent, resourceful middle-school student who has just moved to Florida from Montana. He misses the mountains and wilderness of Montana. As a kid who has moved a lot, he's not surprised to be the victim of bully Dana Matherson. While being pummeled by Dana on the school bus, Roy spies a kid running along the sidewalk, a kid with no backpack and no shoes. Intrigued, he sets out to find him and gets involved up to his eyeballs in the strange kid's guerilla tactics to save a particular street corner from its fate as the future site of another Mother Paula's All-American Pancake. The adults seem to be ignoring the burrows of tiny owls that will be buried by the bulldozing equipment any day now. Roy's parents explain that it surely is a shame about the owls, but the company must have filed all of the papers and received all of the necessary permits. But Roy and his new friends --- Mullet Fingers, the outlaw boy, and Beatrice, his tough, soccer playing stepsister --- are not about to take the destruction of the owls' burrows lying down. Along the way they outwit Officer Delinko, the ambitious cop who tries to protect the site, and Curly, the foreman who's responsible for getting the job started.

Roy's parents are thoughtful and very caring. Roy shields his tenderhearted Mom from the fact that Mullet Fingers lives in the woods and at the dump because his own mother doesn't want him. That's probably the most brutal aspect of the novel, unless perhaps it's the dishonesty of the Mother Paula's corporation in attempting to deny the existence of the endangered owls. Mr. and Mrs. Eberhardt worry about Roy and advise him, but ultimately, Roy figures out a successful plan on his own.

The book carries us along with a pleasing suspense and steady pace. The author provides neat encapsulations of each character's motivations that are often missing from adult fiction. (Presumably we can work it out for ourselves.) While it might be missing the extreme characters and profanity of his adult novels, HOOT still reflects Mr. Hiaasen's usual indignation over the rape of his native Florida. Roy is an appealing character, one who may very well inspire young readers to question authority when necessary and act to protect the environment. How subversive is that? Kids of all ages should love it.

--- Reviewed by Eileen Zimmerman Nicol

This is a great book to own. The knowledge found in this book is wonderful. I felt like a whold new person after reading it.