Children's Fiction: Fans of Carl Hiaasen's nine adult novels will be pleased that his temporary move to a book for children does not involve any notable change of direction, writes Robert Dunbar.
The usual Florida setting comes complete with the usual cast of wacky eccentrics and wayward administrators. The plotting, though complex, is convincing and beautifully paced. The dialogue is brisk, sharp and immediately engaging. The tone is witty and satirical, if - overall - more benign than in the adult work. The result is a book which will appeal to a much wider readership than the pre-teen age-group at whom it is primarily directed.
Recently arrived in the small town of Coconut Cove, Roy Eberhardt is a pupil at Trace Middle School. Here, while having to contend with some vicious bullying, he is befriended by fellow student Garrett, whose resourcefulness is matched only by his farting prowess: this, it must be said, is a skill which, though flatulently entertaining, does little to advance the narrative. The two boys are soon caught up in the apparent mystery surrounding a third, named (for most of the story) Mullet Fingers, whose mission is to ensure that the proposed erection in the town of yet another All-American Pancake House does not - for very sound environmental reasons - proceed.
The ingenuity which Mullet displays as he pursues his goal of saving some burrowing owls from being bulldozed out of existence is brilliantly and humorously inventive, but is not in itself the principal focus of unfolding events. Rather, the real point of these is to place boyish forthrightness (and a certain degree of innocence) against adult duplicity and self-interest. This juxtaposition involves the boys' entanglement with such pillars of their local community as Police Officer Dellinko, keen to rise in the ranks, and the exquisitely named Chuck Muckle, marketing director of the Pancake House chain.
The outcome of the ensuing battle of strategies, although inevitably what we expect, comes only after a great deal of hilarity (and considerable adult re-thinking) en route. Communal virtue is seen to triumph over individual greed, youthful perseverance is rewarded - and the owls will continue to hoot.
Robert Dunbar lectures in English at the Church of Ireland College of Education, Rathmines, Dublin
Hoot. By Carl Hiaasen. Macmillan, 276pp. £9.99