Scat by Carl Hiaasen

4^th Grade and Up

When Mrs. Starch, the most feared biology teacher in Florida, goes missing during a school trip to the Black Vine Swamp, her class is secretly relieved. The school principal tries to cover it up as a 'family emergency', but Nick and Marta just aren't convinced. They think it's much more likely to have something to do with Smoke, the local troublemaker - whose run-ins with Mrs. Starch are infamous - and decide to do some investigating of their own.

But there's more going on in Black Vine Swamp than either one of them could guess. And Nick and Marta will have to reckon with an eccentric eco-avenger, a stuffed rat named Chelsea, a crooked oil prospector, a singing substitute teacher, and an angry Florida panther before they really begin to see the big picture.

You really need to pay close attention to everything mentioned in this story because the subject has a tendency to change without warning. One minute you’re reading about one character then the next minute the book is talking about an entirely different character.

Carl Hiaasen has had some pretty far out characters in the first two books but the substitute teacher in this book is completely out of left field. This guy is an absolute whack job and that’s putting it nicely. You’ll have to read the book yourself to find out just how weird this guy really is.

As a bonus, here’s a picture of a Florida panther:

Flush by Carl Hiaasen

4^th Grade and Up

Noah’s dad is sure that the owner of the Coral Queen casino boat is flushing raw sewage into the harbor – which has made taking a dip at the local beach like swimming in a toilet. He can’t prove it through, and so he decides that sinking the boat will make an effective statement. Not so much. The boat is pumped out and back in business within days and Noah’s dad is stuck in the clink.

Now Noah is determined to succeed where his dad failed. He will prove that the Coral Queen is dumping illegally…somehow.

Besides the Fudge Hatcher series, I think I listened to Flush more than any other audiobook. This book pretty much has everything a kid would want in a good book. Mystery, kids fighting against bad people, suspense, great characters, humor, the list goes on.

Seriously…who dumps hundreds of gallons of human waste near a beach where people swim? That is completely disgusting and inhuman. This is why I don’t swim in the ocean. Who know what’s in that water.

As a small bonus, here’s a picture of a manatee for no reason other than this is my blog and I can do what I want.