Woo-hoo! It's time for another trip to Florida, screwy, gorgeous Florida, with its swamps and scammers and strange creatures (two- and four-legged). Grab a copy of "Scat" and come along.
Our guide, of course, is Carl Hiaasen, the Miami Herald columnist and author of a whole shelf of hilarious novels for adults. He first conquered the world of children's books with "Hoot," which earned a Newbery Honor for a boy's offbeat adventure involving a tiny ground owl whose habitat is endangered by development. Later came "Flush," in which a brother and sister try to stop casino boats from dumping sewage into state waterways.
Yes, Hiaasen loves Florida's natural world, and so do many of his characters, which sometimes causes them to go to extremes to save it.
In "Scat," the focus is on the dense, leafy swamps and the very rare Florida panther. As in "Hoot" and "Flush," the kids are unlikely heroes. Nick, whose mom is a jail guard and whose dad is deployed in Iraq, joins forces with timid but friendly Marta. They're both in the biology class taught by the infamously strict Mrs. Starch, who disappears during a field trip to the Black Vine Swamp.
Hiaasen has a knack for creating oddball characters, and here are some who enliven "Scat":
• Duane Scrod Jr., a bull-shaped boy nicknamed "Smoke" who once set fire to a billboard. Early on, he bites off half of Mrs. Starch's pencil – and eats it.
• Duane Scrod Sr., Smoke's dad, whose constant companion since the day his wife lit out for Paris is a blue and gold macaw named Nadine who speaks three languages. The Scrods live in an unpainted block house surrounded by dysfunctional vehicles. Duane Sr. loves classical music and hates car dealers.
• Twilly Spree, a shadowy character who lives off the grid and introduces Nick to the book "The Monkey Wrench Gang."
• The peculiar Mrs. Starch herself, first name Bunny, who reappears at an opportune time.
If "Scat" lacks some of the edge of "Hoot," it's likely because of Nick's father, who returns home having lost his right arm in an attack on his Humvee. Nick tries to become left-handed, too, in empathy. Hiaasen doesn't sentimentalize the lives of soldiers or their families, but the sensitivity required in these passages sands the splinters off the writer's characteristic quirkiness. Still, it's an excellent adventure.
Call The Bee's Kathy Morrison, (916) 321-1080. Worth a bookmark
Grown-ups looking for books to hook their youngsters will want to bookmark www.readkiddoread.com/. Best-selling author James Patterson developed this site after noticing that his young son was not into reading. All it takes it the right book, Patterson says. He lists plenty of them at the bountiful, well-organized site. It's fresh and easy to navigate. 'Three Cups of Tea'
Two new versions of Greg Mortensen's "Three Cups of Tea" – a young adult edition (paperback, $9, 218 pages, ages 8 and up) and a picture book ("Listen to the Wind," $17, 32 pages, ages 6-8) are now available. The author will appear this spring in the Bay Area. For dates, visit www.threecupsoftea.com. – Judy Green
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