• Hoot

  • By: Carl Hiaasen
  • Narrated by: Chad Lowe
  • Length: 6 hrs and 25 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (1,636 ratings)

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Hoot  By  cover art

Hoot

By: Carl Hiaasen
Narrated by: Chad Lowe
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Publisher's summary

ALA Notable Children's Book, 2003

Arizona Young Readers Award, 2005

Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award, 2005

Illinois Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Award, 2005

Iowa Teen Book Award, 2005

Kentucky Bluegrass Master List, 2004

Maine Student Book Master List, 2003

Massachusetts Children's Book Award, 2004

Minnesota Maud Heart Lovelace Award, 2005

Newbery Honor Book, 2003

Pennsylvania Young Readers Choice Award, 2003

Texas Lone Star Reading List, 2003

This Newbery Honor winner and #1 New York Times bestseller is a beloved modern classic. Hoot features a new kid and his new bully, alligators, some burrowing owls, a renegade eco-avenger, and several extremely poisonous snakes.

Everybody loves Mother Paula's pancakes. Everybody, that is, except the colony of cute but endangered owls that live on the building site of the new restaurant. Can the awkward new kid and his feral friend prank the pancake people out of town? Or is the owls' fate cemented in pancake batter?

Welcome to Carl Hiaasen's Florida—where the creatures are wild and the people are wilder!

©2002 Carl Hiaasen (P)2002 Random House, Inc., Listening Library, An Imprint of Random House Audio Publishing Group
  • Unabridged Audiobook

Critic reviews

“It seems unlikely that the master of noir-tinged, surrealistic black humor would write a novel for young readers. And yet, there has always been something delightfully juvenile about Hiaasen’s imagination; beneath the bent cynicism lurks a distinctly 12-year-old cackle. In this thoroughly engaging tale of how middle schooler Roy Eberhardt, new kid in Coconut Cove, learns to love South Florida, Hiaasen lets his inner kid run rampant, both the subversive side that loves to see grown-ups make fools of themselves and the righteously indignant side, appalled at the mess being made of our planet. The story is full of offbeat humor, buffoonish yet charming supporting characters, and genuinely touching scenes of children enjoying the wildness of nature. He deserves a warm welcome into children’s publishing.”—Booklist

“A wonderful tour-de-force.”—The Boston Globe

“A rollicking, righteous story.”—The Miami Herald

What listeners say about Hoot

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

HOOT

I am very disappointed in Audible (and maybe Hiassen) for not clearly labelling this a children's book. Probably great for 8 to 12 year olds but NOT for adults doing a 10 hour drive. As a kicker, my Otis did not record the final chapter. I'd like to say I don't know how it ended but I do and did for the last 4 hours I listened. Get this for a youngster but not for literate adults.

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23 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Ed
  • 02-13-12

Listened with my nine-year-old

Wanted an excuse to listen to another book by Hiaasen but felt a little funny listening to a kid's book. So I downloaded a copy and listened along with my nine-year-old daughter who read a printed copy at the same time. Helped her with her reading fluency and comprehension and it gave me an excuse to listen. I haven't had as much fun since I re-read one of my old Hardy Boys books. It was a win-win. By the way, the book was standard Hiaasen fare. A great listen.

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Good listen for a car ride with kids

This is a good title for adults and children confined in a car. I was introduced to this author by another title, Basketcase, which I completely enjoyed but wouldn't necessarily want my kids to listen to. The author keeps his same sense of humor in Hoot, but the main character is a middle-school-aged boy, and the premise is suitable for all ages.

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Clever and surprising!

This is certainly the most purely entertaining book I have heard in a long time. The plot and characters are clever, interesting and, best of all, surprising. Along with an avenging, tire-biting girl soccer star and a runaway boy turned ecology defender, HOOT delivers a main character who has his own cunning way of dealing with bullies and school harassment. You will meet a scheming pancake house executive, a construction contractor under siege, a wonderfully vile bully, a B-movie actress/pancake house icon and some very tiny owls. Yes, it's mental and auditory bubble-gum, but it's great fun.

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

I'm hooting a congratulations

My dad bought me a Rio player with an Audible subscription. This was the first book I got. I wasn't really thinking much about it, but Chad Lowe is a great reader and Carl Hiaasen is a great writer. I definitely recommend the book. I would never thought that a book with a bullied kid, a barefoot Justin Gatlin (a U.S. Olympic track star), and a sharp toothed soccer player could make a kid like me entertained.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

our favorite Carl Hiaasen kids' book

What was one of the most memorable moments of Hoot?

Our favorite line: "Hello, Beatrice," on the bus. Listen for it.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

My 8-year-old son and I listen to audiobooks in the car. He frequently didn't want to stop listening to Hoot when we arrived at our destination or home. Breaking the book into parts built suspense and anticipation into the experience. As soon as we got in the car, I'd hear: "Hoot, please." And we'd pick up where we left off. By request, we've listened to it three times through. I don't mind because it's my favorite Carl Hiaasen kids' book, choosing from among Chomp, Scat, Flush, and Hoot, and I like all four books.

Any additional comments?

Highly recommend for all ages.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Hiaasen's first first YA novel a limited success

Carl Hiaasen's first shot at young adult fiction cntains the same offbeat to the point of parody situations and characters. I like the fact that the parents of the protaganist Roy were portrayed in a positive light if somewhat thinly drawn. They contrasted nicely with with the general media portryal of parents particularly of fathers. As always Hiaasen is the voice in the wilderness crying out for the wilderness. When at his best Hiaasen's characters are unique and likeable. Too often though they slip periously close to one or two dimensional of episodic TV. Still he is always a good listen. Well worth the time.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Give us more!

I hope Carl Hiaasen decides to write more books like this. It was wonderful. I listened to some of his others books but was a bit put off by the violence - and the "adult" language. This his none of that - it's just a great story for any age. Give us more, Carl!

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Bittersweet, funny, fast-paced

While this could be enjoyed by young teens, I appreciated this book particularly as an adult. Apparently, junior high school hasn't changed, so the characters and plight of the young protagonist rang true. The plot is as quirky as I've come to expect from a Carl Hiaasen book, with all the bemused sense of absurdity that colors all his work. I listened to it in my car, and looked forward every night to getting back to the story during the next morning's drive to work(NOT a common situation!). Chad Lowe does an excellent job of reading -- speaking from the kid's point of view without condescension, particularly.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Fun book for the whole family

This book is in the same genre as Louis Sachar's books - complex plots with twists and turns, and challenges that keep you rooting for the main character. It's not as imaginative as Sacher's books, unfortunately, but close enough that you won't feel too disappointed. It's got a good pace that is interesting right from the beginning and keeps up throughout the story. Definitely something that parents and kids can share on a long car trip.

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2 people found this helpful