Scat by Carl Hiaasen

It all started with an arson. In the book Scat by Carl Hiaasen is is perceived as a simple wildfire of the Florida dry season. To Nick Waters and Marta Gonzalez, the fire is not as important as Ms. Starch, their hard core biology teacher who went missing during this fire. Duane Scrod Jr., a 16-year-old student, and Twilly Spree, a nature-loving, cash-filled man, still decide that another thing entirely is their most important goal; Red Diamond Energy company planned to illegally drill oil and scared away an endangered mother panther in the process, leaving the cub on its own. After some digging around and running into each other, Nick and Marta find that Duane Jr., Twilly, and Ms. Starch, who are hiding in the Black Vine swamp since the fire, are looking after the panther cub and tracking the frightened mother. It all changes when D.J. is charged with arson and then becomes a fugitive. Nick knows he is innocent and helps find the panther anyway, however, Marta is shaky and only goes because Nick is there. In the end, Jimmy Lee Baylis , the Red Diamond project manager, is charged with arson, and the rest of the company with illegal drilling. Nick and Marta get the panther cub to its mother, and Twilly and Duane Jr. save Ms. Starch after she gets badly injured. Fire is never simply handled in this action-filled book.

In Scat there are two main characters, Nick Waters and Marta Gonzalez. Nick and Marta alike are students at the Truman School in suburban Florida. Both love to succeed and are passionate in what they do. Nick is the more gut-trusting, following every feeling he has and even becoming left-handed after his father's right arm is amputated in Iraq. Marta, however, follows the crowd, or in this case, Nick, and only commits fully in demanding situations. To her a demanding situation would be along the lines of when Nick is called out to sing in class after his father's accident. She chose to stand up and forcefully tell the substitute to leave him alone.

Twilly Spree is another character that you hear about all throughout the book. He is an odd sort that is not often written about in other books. He has everything and more, yet puts less above him. Twilly chose to oversee the panther cub himself instead of contacting someone else to do it for him. He is a big man with a gentle heart, large pockets yet little want, and is the type of person that is rare in society.

The reoccurring theme I saw in this book was teamwork. All of the characters were from different backgrounds, yet worked perfectly together, paying no attention to their differences. Twilly was rich, D.J. was poor, Ms. Starch was unreadable, and Nick was an open book. I relate this to my math group. In no way are we saving endangered animals, but we get the job done and done well. One person in my group is a sporty, unfocused student, another a hardcore, schoolwork-doing girl, and me, crazy and calm in one. Both may math group and the group in Scat don't notice the difference in each other and finish their task at hand.

Like almost every other book I read, I loved it. I would recommend it to other junior high students because it shows confidence. It shows we have the power to change, to help. We aren't too young or old to participate, we aren't restricted anymore. This book entertains the reader and when though about, has many life lessons that impact positively on everybody.

http://www.carlhiaasen.com/books/books-scat.html (This is Carl Hiaasen's official site as well as where I got my picture from.)