When an editor first suggested that best-selling author Carl Hiaasen consider writing for children, he laughed.
“My reaction was that this person hadn’t read my adult novels or they would never ask me to write for kids,” Hiaasen said. “The idea was just too scary to contemplate.”
But Hiaasen, 55, had second thoughts, as he thought of how fun it might be to write a book that his young stepson and nieces and nephews could read. So, in 2002, Hiaasen’s first children’s novel, “Hoot,” was published.
To his considerable surprise, the book was an immediate hit with young readers and won a prestigious Newbery Honor in 2003. In between writing his adult mysteries, Hiaasen published a second children’s book, “Flush,” in 2005.
Now, Hiaasen’s third novel for kids, “Scat,” has just been released to rave reviews. Following the successful formula he employed in “Hoot” and “Flush,” Hiaasen’s third children’s book is part eco-mystery, part humorous novel as he tells the story of two kids, Nick and Marta, who try to figure out what happened to their biology teacher after she mysteriously disappeared into the Black Vine Swamp during a class field trip.
It’s not that Nick and Marta like their teacher; Mrs. Bunny Starch generally inspires fear and loathing in her students. But they also don’t like the way school administrators are covering up her absence, and so embark on a sometimes-dangerous search for Mrs. Starch that involves a crooked oil drilling company owner and a rare Florida panther. (Adult fans of Hiaasen also will enjoy the part played in the story by Twilly Spree, hero of “Sick Puppy.”)
Meanwhile, Nick also is grappling with another challenge: how to relate with his father, who has just returned from Iraq after losing his right arm.
As usual, Hiaasen has filled “Scat” with larger-than-life characters and plenty of fast-paced action and humor. Young readers will particularly enjoy the relationship between Nick, Marta and another student, “Smoke,” who is central to the mystery of Mrs. Starch’s disappearance.
And yes, as in Hiaasen’s other children’s books, “Scat” offers a message about the importance of protecting the environment from corporate greed. But Hiaasen, like all other good writers for children, ensures that the message takes a back seat to his primary goal of telling a good story.
“Your job as a writer is to entertain — period,” Hiaasen said. “But if readers identify with a character and a character expresses a particular point of view, then that in itself is the message.”
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