Here’s my husband Greg with a review of SCAT by Carl Hiaasen. He’s a professor, so his writing makes mine look like that of a one-handed blind monkey. Or a fork. Or something else that can’t write. Don’t get used to it, though, because he doesn’t read much kidlit – he just loves Carl Hiaasen. I may, however, have to rope him in for an occasional guest column on graphic novels and comic books. Hmmmm….
Anyway, his guest review!
Carl Hiaasen, whether he’s targeting adults or younger readers, always manages to write interesting variations on the same basic elements: South Florida, environmental awareness, and a believable male protagonist who joins with an unlikely group of comrades to make life miserable for some truly bad people. Hiaasen’s new middle grade novel Scat keeps this proven formula fresh.
Nick Waters has a nascent crush on his classmate, Marta Gonzalez; fears his tough biology teacher, Mrs. Starch; and steers clear of the big, scary kid in his class, Duane “Smoke” Scrod. Nick also worries about his dad, a National Guard officer deployed in Iraq. In short order, two events shake Nick’s world: his dad comes home without his right arm, and Mrs. Starch vanishes in a fire during a field trip to the Black Vine Swamp, with the aptly nicknamed Smoke the leading suspect in her disappearance. Nick’s anxiety over his dad drives him to enlist Marta to help him solve the mystery of Mrs. Starch. Their stumbling but determined investigation leads them to a mysterious ecological avenger, a failed Texas oilman out to use daddy’s money for one last scam, and an endangered Florida panther cub. The intricate, fast-paced story ends happily but sends a stern warning about environmental degradation in the name of profit.
Hiaasen is one of the best writers working in crime fiction, and Scat adjusts his plotting and stylistic talents for a middle grade audience without dumbing anything down. The book misses a bit of Hiaasen’s mordant humor, mostly because Nick is your basic nice kid and not the sort of weary, damaged older protagonist typical of Hiaasen’s adult novels. But Hiaasen’s people are still what drive his tricky and imaginative plot home. In fewer than 400 pages, at least 15 characters leave indelible impressions. Marta’s underdevelopment compared to Nick makes this – like most crime novels – more likely to appeal to boys than girls, and a couple of plot coincidences strain credulity. But Scat boasts a combination of heart, smarts, style, and ideology that few authors for any age level can match.
Publisher: Random House
Pub date: January 13, 2009
