Helpful Score: 2
Reviewed by Tasha for TeensReadToo.com
Nick and Marta are two of the lucky eighth-grade students in Mrs. Starch's (who just happens to be the most feared teacher in the history of the world!) biology class. Every day they sit and pass notes back and forth to each other, discussing their fear of being called on.
The day after their field trip to the Black Vine Swamp, something mysterious happens. Mrs. Starch doesn't come back, and she is never absent, and people start to wonder. While there might be a scrawled note and a message on her answering machine that states that she has had to deal with a family emergency, people, especially Nick and Marta, aren't buying it.
They are all convinced that Smoke, the kid in Mrs. Starch's class that she dislikes the most, has something to do with her disappearance.
In a whirlwind adventure filled with arson, endangered animals, the Iraq war, the Florida wet lands, a money hungry wannabe oil rigger, and panther poop, Nick and Marta set out to find their missing biology teacher.
Carl Hiaasen definitely has a knack for adventure. Every story he creates always has some crazy plot that makes you think as well as laugh! In this case, Hiaasen poses the problem of destroying the environment for monetary gain and how it affects the ecosystem in a hilarious manner. He also throws in some other great themes to think about: not judging people by their history/the way they look, believing in yourself and never giving up, learning to live with what you've got, and working as a team.
These themes are so important for younger readers (and sometimes older!) to learn, and Hiaasen did such a great job of incorporating them into the book without blatantly stating them. While this book has more of a middle-grade audience, it is great for all ages of readers, although there is a tad bit of language. Overall, I think the book was masterfully written and was a worthwhile and entertaining read.
Nick and Marta are two of the lucky eighth-grade students in Mrs. Starch's (who just happens to be the most feared teacher in the history of the world!) biology class. Every day they sit and pass notes back and forth to each other, discussing their fear of being called on.
The day after their field trip to the Black Vine Swamp, something mysterious happens. Mrs. Starch doesn't come back, and she is never absent, and people start to wonder. While there might be a scrawled note and a message on her answering machine that states that she has had to deal with a family emergency, people, especially Nick and Marta, aren't buying it.
They are all convinced that Smoke, the kid in Mrs. Starch's class that she dislikes the most, has something to do with her disappearance.
In a whirlwind adventure filled with arson, endangered animals, the Iraq war, the Florida wet lands, a money hungry wannabe oil rigger, and panther poop, Nick and Marta set out to find their missing biology teacher.
Carl Hiaasen definitely has a knack for adventure. Every story he creates always has some crazy plot that makes you think as well as laugh! In this case, Hiaasen poses the problem of destroying the environment for monetary gain and how it affects the ecosystem in a hilarious manner. He also throws in some other great themes to think about: not judging people by their history/the way they look, believing in yourself and never giving up, learning to live with what you've got, and working as a team.
These themes are so important for younger readers (and sometimes older!) to learn, and Hiaasen did such a great job of incorporating them into the book without blatantly stating them. While this book has more of a middle-grade audience, it is great for all ages of readers, although there is a tad bit of language. Overall, I think the book was masterfully written and was a worthwhile and entertaining read.
Helpful Score: 1
From the perspective of someone 30plus years removed from young adulthood, I found the story boring and predictable (I've read a few of Hiaasen's adult novels), the characters are one dimensional, and it's too easy to tell who the good guys and the bad guys are. I get the impression that Hiaasen cut back on the zaniness for his children's books.
Helpful Score: 1
I'm a teen that is constantly reading. I was super excited about this book. I started reading it, and got bored, so I stopped for a while. It was confusing. Yes, the characters were good. But there were a lot of them. Each chapter was a different person. I finally finished it. I liked how all the stories came together and made an ending that was, yes, predictable, but not in the way you would think! Overall, I thought it was okay. Not the best of Hiaasen's, but it was good. Worth it.
This is the third book of Hiaasen's books for the middle grade/young adult set featuring kids in Florida who try to save the environment/ecology from evil doers. This was an entertaining read; although I didn't like it as much as Hoot (which I loved) or Flush.
Bunny Starch has gone missing; she is the school's biology teacher and not the most loved teacher out there. However, two of her students (Nick and Marta) think something fishy is going on here. They think it is incredibly odd that Mrs. Starch disappeared on the same day that the class delinquent Smoke did. Especially since Mrs. Starch and Smoke got into an all out brawl the day before. Well Nick and Marta might be right; but little do they realize that both Mrs Starch's and Smoke's disappearance are linked to the goings on in Black Vine Swamp.
I also enjoy Hiaasen's witty and snappy writing style. It's quirky and a little over-the-top funny and always entertaining.
However I thought this book had a little bit too much going on and was a bit too scattered. We hear from a number of different characters throughout the story and it jumps around so much it's a bit jarring and hard to follow. Additionally there are a lot of different issues and stories going on here and it was a lot to follow and digest.
For example Nick is dealing with his dad being gone at Iraq. Smoke is dealing with his mom abandoning them and moving to Paris. There is the Red Diamond Energy company that is illegally drilling for oil. Additionally there is the possibility of an endangered cougar roaming through Black Vine Swamp. Then there is the missing Mrs. Starch and a case of arson that Smoke gets blamed for. Most of these ends up being related, some of it not. However it was a lot to put into this little book and resulted in awkward pacing and a story that felt jerky and contrived.
I was also a little disappointed that the cougars don't really make an appearance until very late in the story. They are discussed some throughout; but the majority of the story ends up being about Mrs. Starch's disappearance, Smoke's supposed arson, and Nick's dad in Iraq. It was just a bit of a mess.
Things are wrapped up nicely though and in a very tongue in cheek way that is ironic. The writing is fairly easy to read and there is some good action.
Overall this was an okay story. There was a bit too much going on here and the story didn't flow all that well. While I enjoyed the topic of saving endangered species from evil-doers, I thought this was the weakest book so far of these Hiaasen books...which is a pity because the cover is super cute. I would recommend reading Hoot and Flush before this book; this one just isn't as good as those two were.
Bunny Starch has gone missing; she is the school's biology teacher and not the most loved teacher out there. However, two of her students (Nick and Marta) think something fishy is going on here. They think it is incredibly odd that Mrs. Starch disappeared on the same day that the class delinquent Smoke did. Especially since Mrs. Starch and Smoke got into an all out brawl the day before. Well Nick and Marta might be right; but little do they realize that both Mrs Starch's and Smoke's disappearance are linked to the goings on in Black Vine Swamp.
I also enjoy Hiaasen's witty and snappy writing style. It's quirky and a little over-the-top funny and always entertaining.
However I thought this book had a little bit too much going on and was a bit too scattered. We hear from a number of different characters throughout the story and it jumps around so much it's a bit jarring and hard to follow. Additionally there are a lot of different issues and stories going on here and it was a lot to follow and digest.
For example Nick is dealing with his dad being gone at Iraq. Smoke is dealing with his mom abandoning them and moving to Paris. There is the Red Diamond Energy company that is illegally drilling for oil. Additionally there is the possibility of an endangered cougar roaming through Black Vine Swamp. Then there is the missing Mrs. Starch and a case of arson that Smoke gets blamed for. Most of these ends up being related, some of it not. However it was a lot to put into this little book and resulted in awkward pacing and a story that felt jerky and contrived.
I was also a little disappointed that the cougars don't really make an appearance until very late in the story. They are discussed some throughout; but the majority of the story ends up being about Mrs. Starch's disappearance, Smoke's supposed arson, and Nick's dad in Iraq. It was just a bit of a mess.
Things are wrapped up nicely though and in a very tongue in cheek way that is ironic. The writing is fairly easy to read and there is some good action.
Overall this was an okay story. There was a bit too much going on here and the story didn't flow all that well. While I enjoyed the topic of saving endangered species from evil-doers, I thought this was the weakest book so far of these Hiaasen books...which is a pity because the cover is super cute. I would recommend reading Hoot and Flush before this book; this one just isn't as good as those two were.
This was a quick and interesting read, light reading. Good stryline.
this was a cute book I will be reading more.
