Hoot - Book Review

** I am currently taking a Young Adult literature course and I will be reading and reviewing several materials using a new format. This review follows a template given to me by my professor.**

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Publication Information

Name: Christopher Jimenez	Media Format: Book (eBook)
Title: Hoot	Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Adventure, Protest, Ecology
Author: Carl Hiaasen	Selection Source: 2003 Newbery Honor
Publisher: Random House Children's Books	Recommended Audience Age: 9-14
	Reading Recommendation: 4 out of 5
	Curriculum Connections: Leisure, Florida, Ecology, Construction, Civics, Politics, Bullying

Review

Mother Paula's All-American Pancake House is trying to open a new restaurant in Coconut Cove, Fl. The only problem is that things keep going wrong on the construction site which leaves the police and site supervisors frustrated and puzzled. Someone has been sabotaging the entire operation.

Simultaneously, Roy Eberhardt is trying to fit in at school after yet another move due to his father's job at the Department of Justice. He prefers mountainous Montana over flat Florida, his attitude earned him the nickname "cowgirl" at school. He deals with bullies Beatrice Leep and Dana Matherson while on the bus. After noticing a boy his age running down the street, Roy decides to follow him and ends up in an ecological adventure to save the lives of the burrowing owls living on the site of the new Pancake House.

This novel has achieved the following awards:

• 2003 YALSA Selected Audiobooks
• 2003 YALSA Best Books for Young Adults
• 2003 ALSC Notable Children's Books

Evaluation

This is an excellent book for young adults. It features children who are brave enough to stand up for a cause and actually succeed in bringing about public awareness. It is full of humor and appeals to a child's sense of justice and love of animals.

Further, it brings up several aspects of bullying that are critical springboards for discussion. For instance: how are Beatrice and Dana different? How does each character evolve? Roy stands up for himself but does not report the bullying, why would he do that? Is it wise?

Another interesting theme in this book has to do with the law as it relates to minors. What is truancy? Trespassing? Why weren't the delinquent's names revealed in the press? The power of the law is also revealed in the ultimate demise of the Pancake House's building project. Even corporations must abide by the law or risk being shut down.

I recommend this book to all readers, young and old. Perhaps this has more to do with the fact that it was set in South Florida, my home town. It truly is a good story with a lot of humorous scenes.

Censored by a Librarian

This is my latest discussion board post, again in reference to my textbook. This time, I recount an experience I had of being censored, in a library, by a librarian! I know, it was a shocker. Granted, the librarian is not as bad as I portrayed the gender neutral person to be, but I felt that by adding a little drama to my post it would make a more interesting read. I suppose that is the literature enthusiast in me shining through. :-) 

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According to Rubin on page 379, the First Amendment provides the right to both express oneself and the corollary right to receive the ideas of others. What I find interesting is that it does not provide the right to not be bothered by other people’s ideas.

I remember one time having a discussion in the library about a religious topic and the librarians told us to move my discussion so that others would not have to overhear us. They claimed to be protecting the FA right to not receive information. Perhaps I am missing something, but I am pretty sure the FA does not censor ideas, but protects them.

We were not happy about being censored, but decided to be respectful of other people and moved the discussion. However, I found it disturbing that a librarian would suppress the freedom to discuss ideas in the name of free speech!

E-Rates: A Bribe for Censorship

I aced my last paper. I was a little worried because I used EndNote for the very first time and did not have as much control over building my References page. But it worked out.

Discussion Post. Below is my discussion post for the week. I entitled it "E-rates: A Bribe for Censorship." It has to do with government contribution to library operation costs, that end up costing libraries some intellectual liberty.

I understand that my title for this thread regarding pages 348-352 of the text is a bit simplistic and exaggerated, but I could not help but entertain these thoughts.

In essence, the government has been trying to exchange economic benefit to educational institutions for compromise in the area of censorship. Those institutions that apply for and are granted the special “E-rates” are then subject to evaluation to ensure that proper monitoring of use is applied. This left me appalled and saddened, since I can definitely see how easy it would be to compromise standards for some financial relief especially in our current world.

By the same token, I feel it is important to remember that this is not only “Big Brother” wanting to get their hands into everything. While that may play a part in their reasoning, outwardly, the purpose of this censorship is for the children’s benefit. Restricting child porn, preventing illegal activities and eliminating cyber-bullying are very good goals to strive for, especially in environments that cater to minors. However, the implementation of these restrictions would also infringe upon rights to information, which is why librarians oppose them.