Hoot, Carl Hiaasen

Some lady brought a young adult book onto my bus! I was kind of excited about that because, as you might know, I focused on YA librarianship. This book was a 2003 Newbery Honor book and the folks that award those things know a lot more about books than I do. But I didn't really like it. I've wanted to read some of Hiaasen's other books, but never got around to them. And I still think I will, but not based on this one. I suspect that I'll think he should stick to writing for adults. Hoot seemed to me like a YA-by-numbers book. The kid's the new kid in town and kind of a loner. There's a mystery of sorts. There's a social message. (Yeah, it's borderline didactic- something to avoid with any children's book...) Etc. etc. etc. Mostly, I just wanted these people to tell each other what they knew. I didn't think the interaction between the kid and his parents and their interaction with everyone else was consistent at all. Anyway, enough of that. Don't bother.