Middle school student Roy Eberhardt is a new resident to the town of Coconut Grove, Florida. He doesn’t have many friends but is intrigued* when he notices a barefoot boy running through the woods near his home. Roy eventually befriends this boy and discovers that he is an environmental activist who will use any means necessary to prevent developers from destroying the woodland homes of a colony of burrowing owls*.

　　In his first novel for a younger audience, Carl Hiaasen plunges readers right into the middle of an ecological mystery, made up of endangered miniature* owls, the Mother Paula’s All-American Pancake House scheduled to be built over their burrows*, and the owls’ unlikely allies — three middle school kids determined to beat the screwed-up* adult system. Hiaasen’s tongue is firmly in cheek as he successfully cuts his slapstick* sense of humor down to kid-size. Sure to be a hoot, hit with middle school mystery fans.

　　About the author

　　A journalist-turned-mystery writer, Hiaasen, who was born and raised in South Florida, has made his mark creating distinctly memorable characters.

　　His works testify to Hiaasen’s mix of absurdity* with the rougher side of life. His methods have brought him legions of* fans.

　　Hiaasen got his start in journalism* in the 1970s, writing public interest features for Cocoa Today. He soon joined The Miami Herald as an investigative reporter, and through his work on the South Florida beat, absorbed enough of the detail and detritus* of Miami political life to fuel a steady stream of fiction.

　　A veteran risk-taker, Hiaasen doesn’t cleave* to an easy formula. With Basket Case (2002), which revolves around the Miami rock-music world, he took the step of shifting his voice to the first person, allowing his readers for the first time to enter into his protagonist*’s screwball* — and highly appealing — mind.

　　In addition to his mystery fiction, Hiassen has published Team Rodent: How Disney Devours the World (1998), and newspaper columns, Kick Ass (1999) and Paradise Screwed (2001), in which he takes on sports franchises, Disney, judges, developers, doctors, and arrogance* of all kinds.