hoot

Hiaasen, C. (2002). Hoot. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 
ISBN: 978-0375829161

A mysterious running kid, a pancake dynasty, a strange new town, and alligators in the port-a-potties are just some of the characters and plot twists readers will encounter in Hoot, a Newbery honor book for tweens. Roy Eberhart, a recent transplant to Coconut Cove, Florida, has a run in with the school bully on his first day at Trace Middle School. This sets into motion a chain of events that include meeting a strange boy who is always running barefoot, discovering a construction site full of small holes, and learning that these holes are the homes of nesting Burrowing Owls, who will be displaced and killed if construction proceeds.

True to the rules of tween literature, the kids in this story are much smarter than the adults, who range from pleasantly clueless to outright mean. Roy and his partners in crime go to creative lengths to stop construction and save the owls. Readers will enjoy this fast-paced, humorous, and complex adventure. A Newbery honor book.