This week we are discussing Hoot by Carl Hiaasen. For this discussion we will be discussing the book as a whole. This month we are exploring Hoot as a re-read from your childhood days!
Content Warning!!!This book contains situations and subjects related to: bullying, fatphobia, talk of miscarriage, and abuse.
Spoiler Warning!!! This post is full of spoilers for Hoot by Carl Hiaasen.
Discussion:
Michaela: Hello friends and welcome to our discussion of Hoot by Carl Hiaasen. This book was published in 2002 and I remember reading it some time in elementary school. I absolutely loved this book and when the movie came out, I was so excited! Re-reading this book was an adventure for sure. As an adult I can see how this book probably influenced my views on the world and I also see some things that did not age well, which is expected with any form of media. Nothing is ever perfect and with time those imperfections will start to stand out, that's all a part of art.
An entertaining and innocent thing that didn’t age well was the lack of cellphones and using the internet. It’s always so funny to read books written from when I was a kid and be reminded how much more technology is available to me now.
Jacilyn: I also read Hoot at some point in elementary school, and loved both the book and the film. I haven’t read it since then, so it was definitely interesting re-visiting it as an adult. I would agree with Michaela, in hindsight it really does seem like this book probably helped influence a lot of my politics and worldviews. Lack of trust of authority figures, awareness of government and corporate corruption, environmentalism…. It’s all here! You’re right though, some things definitely didn’t age well. The use of some outdated terminology and the absolutely awful fatphobia being just two examples.
One thing that really stuck out to me reading this book now is that Roy has a really lovely family. I feel like a lot of books, especially for middle grade and high school readers, issues within a family are part of the conflict in the narrative. It was really nice to read a book with a main character who definitely has his struggles - the impacts of moving that much as a kid can be really difficult - but has an incredible support system in his parents. His relationship with them honestly made me a bit envious, honestly. Roy is also quite mature for his age, which I think stems from how close he is to his parents. I think at some point he even says that his parents are his best friends. I will say, though, that the idea of not knowing what your parent does for work exactly is…. Weird to me. Even with his father working for the DOJ in some capacity, the lack of openness about that within the family is a little odd.
Michaela: Roy’s family is lovely and also weird at the same time, I will totally agree on that. I think this book flops between being actually quite deep with some things and really surface level with others. Which as a kid I’m sure that just glossed over me but as an adult it’s really weird. I liked that Roy didn’t know what his dad’s job was entirely, I think him being so much in the dark was a little unrealistic but not understanding it is totally on par. My mom worked and still does work in hospital administration, which as a kid I never understood. Even as an adult (who has worked in the same hospital as my mom and in other hospitals) I still am not entirely sure what all her job means.
That being said, I think that while Roy’s parents are very loving they give off the energy of hovering and sheltering in a negative way, at least as far as Roy’s mother is concerned. Roy does dig into that for a second in his inner monologue where he talks about his mother being like that, and Roy assumes it’s because of his mother having a miscarriage when he was four years old. Let me tell you, reading this actually shocked me. I was not expecting that nor do I remember it being in there but I love that it was. It was talked about from Roy’s perspective and him understanding the situation as best he could, it was really lovely that he wanted to care for his parents and respected that they didn’t want to share that with him. I think they should have shared it with him, personally, but the fact that Roy knows how to respect people’s privacy was nice to read. I also think it’s an important thing for older kids to be aware of and I appreciate that even though it was a fleeting moment in the book, for some kid out there it was a moment of “oh someone else’s family has had the same grief as mine”. Every kind of representation of family is important.
Jacilyn: For some reason, I thought I remembered Roy having a realization that Dana was being abused, but that didn’t happen. He sees the tussle between Dana and his mom, but doesn’t really think much into it beyond that. That’s one part of the book that disappointed me upon rereading it, especially when it’s combined with the fatphobia. There’s this inherent assumption made by Hiaasen that fat = lazy and slovenly, and he really leans into those stereotypes. This isn’t uncommon in this era of writing (see Roald Dahl, for example), but it’s still disconcerting and upsetting to read.
As an adult who cares a lot about criminal justice reform, I did not enjoy that Dana was just left in juvie even though he clearly didn’t really have anything to do with the pancake house site. I know he had a track record and all, but clearly that kid had a bad home situation and it’s interesting to see Mullet Fingers being treated in one way for things that are illegal, considering his family life, and Dana completely differently. These aren’t likely things I thought of as a kid at all, but they jump out to me now. I wish that Dana would have instead had his home life looked into more by the authorities, and that he would have received some support and counseling instead of just being thrown away and tossing the key. To be clear, he’s an asshole and his violence is in no way okay, but it was all a bit much.
Michaela: I also thought I remembered that moment of realization and concern for Dana being abused, and I was also really disappointed when it never came. I had that realization but Roy didn’t, and Hiaasen’s views on this and the fatphobia was all incredibly disappointing. Dana would have been such a good character to use to show abuse and its effects on children’s behavior. I also hated that Roy baited Dana into getting in serious trouble. His home life was similar enough to Mullet Fingers that it so easily could have been shown a better and more respectful ending.
Hiaasen shows the principal or superintendent figure as being completely disregarded by any amount of bullying even when it is physical and leaving behind bruises. I felt so much rage reading about Ms. Hennepin. Then at the same time all Roy can think about is how ugly she is because of the mole on her face…..why was any of that necessary. Mean does not equal ugly, pretty does not equal nice, fat does not equal lazy. Like if you’re going to write a book that deals with any form of justice then let's be comprehensive about all types of justice, life styles, and how your assumptions and biases can be very wrong and dangerous.
I think the only character to show concern for Dana was Roy’s mother, yet she still didn’t do anything that we see. I did appreciate that she cares about the safety of Beatrice and Mullet Fingers but again we are never shown her taking any steps to help. There was a lot of different abuse that was talked about but then at the same time glossed over. I understand we’re packing a lot of stuff into a 300 page book meant for older children, but there are better ways to address these things.
There was a lot of powerful stuff in this book at the same time as these other not good qualities. I loved that Roy’s parents trusted him to make decisions about what he believes in and what he stands up for. I loved that they also showed pride in him for helping a friend even though he could get in trouble. I love the environmentalist storyline, I have always had animals in my life and it's something I am very passionate about. The scene of the kids at the end protecting the owls by linking hands was great. Roy helped Mullet Fingers by giving him shoes. Roy helped Beatrice by giving her a place to sleep. Beatrice standing up for Roy against Dana. Roy being a kid who moves around a lot and is always the ‘new kid’. I was a new kid a few times and it’s really hard no matter what age you are, and I love that in the end Roy finally started to feel like he could feel at home in Florida even if he loved living somewhere else more. There’s so much good stuff in there, but some of the other aspects are something that would have to have a conversation if I were to let my own child read this book or if I ever recommended it to someone.
Jacilyn: I think my favorite part of the book is the friendship that Roy makes with Beatrice and Mullet Fingers. The scene in the epilogue, when Roy is trying to catch a Mullet and Mullet Fingers puts one of Roy’s shoes in the water, was so cute. It made me feel a bit emotional while reading it. I also loved the visual of all the kids linking arms in front of the buried Mullet Fingers, and the actress joining them in full costume garb. All of that bit at the groundbreaking ceremony was really written perfectly for a film, right down to the image of an owl landing on Mullet Fingers’ head.
Well friends, that’s it for our first Middle Grade book adventure. Join us next time when we dive into a new Middle Grade graphic novel that neither of us have read before. See you then!
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