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    Scat
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    Scat
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    Scat
    Audiobook9 hours

    Scat

    Written by Carl Hiaasen

    Narrated by Ed Asner

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    From Newbery Honoree Carl Hiaasen comes this New York Times bestseller set in Florida's Everglades in which an eccentric eco-avenger, a stuffed rat named Chelsea, a wannabe Texas oilman, a singing substitute teacher, and a ticked-off panther can't stop two kids on a mission to find their missing teacher!

    Bunny Starch, the most feared biology teacher ever, is missing. She disappeared after a school field trip to Black Vine Swamp. And, to be honest, the kids in her class are relieved.

    But when the principal tries to tell the students that Mrs. Starch has been called away on a "family emergency," Nick and Marta just don't buy it. No, they figure the class delinquent, Smoke, has something to do with her disappearance.

    And he does! But not in the way they think. There's a lot more going on in Black Vine Swamp than any one player in this twisted tale can see. It's all about to hit the fan, and when it does, the bad guys better scat.

    "Ingenious . . . Scat won't disappoint Hiaasenphiles of any age." -The New York Times

    "Woohoo! It's time for another trip to Florida-screwy, gorgeous Florida, with its swamps and scammers and strange creatures (two- and four-legged). Our guide, of course, is Carl Hiaasen." -DenverPost.com

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateJan 27, 2009
    ISBN9780739371299
    Unavailable
    Scat
    Author

    Carl Hiaasen

    Carl Hiaasen (b. 1953) is the New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of more than twenty adult and young adult novels and nonfiction titles, including the novels Strip Tease (1993) and Skinny Dip (2004), as well as the mystery-thrillers Powder Burn (1981), Trap Line (1982), and A Death in China (1984), which were cowritten with fellow Miami Herald journalist Bill Montalbano (1941–1998). Hiaasen is best known for his satirical writing and dark humor, much of which is directed at various social and political issues in his home state of Florida. He is an award-winning columnist for the Miami Herald, and lives in Vero Beach.

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    Reviews for Scat

    4/5

    422 ratings45 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Well written book for a younger audience. Lots of humor mixed with nicely layered sub-plots that weren't overly complex.
    • 4/5
      When their unpopular biology teacher, Mrs. Starch, goes missing in a suspicious fire during a field trip to the Black Vine Swamp, Nick and Marta don't buy the headmaster's excuse for her absence and decide to do some investigating of their own. What a fun, exciting adventure for young adults and us older people too.
    • 3/5
      Young teen works to rescue a Florida panther and cub while dealing with school issues and an injured father. Fairly good book for young adults, but not so much for adults.
    • 2/5
      This story is like a literary version of a movie I'd expect to see on The Disney Channel. Clearly delineated good guys and bad guys, caricaturized characters, youth who help save the day, cops who give away more info than they do in real life, idiotic teachers, etc.
      Nice to have a book in a nature setting promoting conservation, but leave this book for the 12 year olds who will enjoy it more.
    • 5/5
      Carl Hiaasen is sheer comedic genius. Seriously. The man is tremendously gifted. Expect to have a bellyache as the result of constantly laughing out loud with this one.
    • 4/5
      3.5 starsNick and Marta's high school biology teacher, Mrs. Starch, disappears immediately following a field trip to the swamp with the biology class. This is a day after she got into a big argument with Duane Scrod, Jr., another kid in the class. It was good. I wasn't always crazy about the narrator of the audio, though, as he had a tendency to mumble at times. I wasn't sure where the story was headed exactly, but in the end, I enjoyed it.
    • 3/5
      Scat is a good book about a boy named Nick who goes to a private school. He has a best friend named Marta who is in the same biology class as Nick. There teacher is Mrs. Starch, one of scariest teachers in the school. One day they go on a feildtrip and theres a wildfire. They have to all leave early, when somebody left thier asma inhialer somewhere in the swamp. Mrs. Starch goes back to get it, but never comes back. Their are rumors around the school about what happened to Mrs. Starch. Nick and Marta want to figure out where she is so they go to her house and they meet a guy named Twilly. Twilly was inside of Mrs. Starches house, so Nick and Marta thought that he killed Mrs. Starch. They eventually find out that on the day of the feild-trip that Mrs. Starch was lost in the fire whe Twilly came to the rescue, and got her safe. He took her to his camp in the swamp. He had a baby panther. Twilly told Mrs. Starch that this baby panther is going to die soon if he/she doesnt get it mothers milk. They got sepperated and Twilly was trying to get them back together. Twilly needed help so Mrs. Starch stayed with him to help out the panther cub. Nick and Marta finally figure out why Mrs. Starch is missing. They help out and get the panther mother and the cub back together. Mrs. Starch is actually a very generous and kind person on the inside, but nobody knew until they found out where Mrs. Starch was. Mrs. Starch comes back to the school and everything is back to normal. Nicks dad is back from the war and hes ok. This book was good, but i think it could have been better.
    • 4/5
      Okay, didn't realize this was YA when I reserved it from the library. But one of my favorite authors and a good story!
    • 4/5
      I've read all of Hiaasen's other books for young readers (along with his regular publications). The other books just seemed like Hiaasen stories with kids instead of adults. Scat, on the other hands, was written in a more simplistic style, making it a less enjoyable read as an adult.
    • 5/5
      I discovered delights in every aspect of this novel from cover art to every aspect of the story. It's a book that I would describe as one of the special treasure chests you sometimes discover between the covers of a novel. It is a magical treasure of a story that can be enjoyed for so many reasons with the first being the broad spectrum of characters and storylines that are all blended together perfectly.
      As a former librarian, a special pleasure is to discover titles that can be equally recommended to both female and male readers. "Scat" is a perfect example of such a title. This novel could be recommended to readers regardless of age from Young Adult to Adult.
      With the broad spectrum of teenage and adult characters and with each character in a different 'place' in their lives whether defined by family role (i.e. mother, father, son, daughter, grandmother, mother-in-law), job role (i.e. student, faculty member, headmaster, business owner, employee), or 'place' as defined by the individual's self-confidence or life experiences - this novel has something for everyone!
      To name just a few of the wide spectrum of storylines this novel includes: environmental protection, wildlife preservation/protection with specific example of endangered panthers in Florida (US), a life-changing injury for a father in military service and a son's reaction, arson investigation, being true to yourself, being true to your passion, trust, and the true meaning of friendship and support systems regardless if family member, classmate, or friend.
      I hope you'll be the next to read this title! :)
    • 4/5
      Carl Hiaasen's latest is funny, exciting and has wonderful lessons about family and our environment. Ed Asner's audio narration was just ok - maybe it was too many hours watching Mary Tyler Moore - I had a hard time picturing kids with his voice. But the strong story makes up for it. Definitely recommended as a good book for a family road trip.
    • 5/5
      I discovered delights in every aspect of this novel from cover art to every aspect of the story. It's a book that I would describe as one of the special treasure chests you sometimes discover between the covers of a novel. It is a magical treasure of a story that can be enjoyed for so many reasons with the first being the broad spectrum of characters and storylines that are all blended together perfectly.
      As a former librarian, a special pleasure is to discover titles that can be equally recommended to both female and male readers. "Scat" is a perfect example of such a title. This novel could be recommended to readers regardless of age from Young Adult to Adult.
      With the broad spectrum of teenage and adult characters and with each character in a different 'place' in their lives whether defined by family role (i.e. mother, father, son, daughter, grandmother, mother-in-law), job role (i.e. student, faculty member, headmaster, business owner, employee), or 'place' as defined by the individual's self-confidence or life experiences - this novel has something for everyone!
      To name just a few of the wide spectrum of storylines this novel includes: environmental protection, wildlife preservation/protection with specific example of endangered panthers in Florida (US), a life-changing injury for a father in military service and a son's reaction, arson investigation, being true to yourself, being true to your passion, trust, and the true meaning of friendship and support systems regardless if family member, classmate, or friend.
      I hope you'll be the next to read this title! :)
    • 5/5
      If you like Hiassen's adult novels, you are still going to love his YA stuff. This novel has many characters but all are developed well. Hiassen's irreverence shines in this story about endangered panthers, a swamp fire and some misunderstood teenagers.
    • 4/5
      Could work as a crossover. Great characters with some very much like Hiaasen's adult book characters. Good story line with enough adventure and action to keep kids reading. Ecology, panthers, Florida!
    • 5/5
      Narrated by Ed Asner. Carl Hiassen's environmental mysteries for kids always involve earnest, heroic kids and bumbling, inept adults. This is no different as Nick, Marta and Smoke attempt to help reunite a baby panther with its mother in the Everglades, while a greedy oil developer secretly tries to illegally profit from oil on state-owned land. Very funny yet the important message still gets through. Listening to Ed Asner read is like having your Grandpa or favorite uncle reading aloud to you. He does great work with the voices and brings alive the various personalities, even those just making brief appearances in the story.
    • 3/5
      My 11 year old read this and rated it 3 stars. He liked it well enough to check out the next two in the series to read this summer as well. "Flush" and "Hoot"
    • 5/5
      When the scariest teacher at the Truman School goes missing after the field trip to Black Vine Swamp gets cut short due to a forest fire, Nick and Marta get the feeling that something is terribly wrong. But when the class delinquent “Smoke” is blamed for the fire, the two kids suspect he has something to do with the teacher’s mysterious disappearance as well. Complicating their investigation is the unexpected return of Nick’s father from Iraq with a life-altering injury—a severed right arm. As Nick tries to deal with the situation at home, he also must deal with the uneasy feeling that Smoke isn’t responsible and that something else, something much darker, is going on.What I liked: Great characters, great plot, great tension. I really got pulled into the story, and the more I read, the more I wanted to know what was going to happen. Lots of interesting characters, each with their own quirks, and because the author puts you in each of their POVs, you get to know the characters pretty well.What I did not like: It was just too long. Some of the scenes felt completely unnecessary, and I was like…why was this scene even in here? There were a lot of character POV shifts which at first felt confusing, but after a while, you pick up on the rhythm.Overall, an interesting read with an interesting mystery.4.5 out of 5 stars
    • 4/5
      Audio book read by Ed Asner

      This is the third of Hiaasen’s books for middle-school-age children. Like his other works he has a significant ecological / environmental message. The plot gets moving when biology teacher, Mrs Bunny Starch, goes missing on a class field trip to the Black Vine Swamp. Despite the fact that most of the kids are relieved that their feared teacher is out of school, Nick Waters and Marta Gonzalez are worried about her. They don’t believe she’s taken a leave of absence to deal with a family emergency. Working on their own, with the help of a juvenile delinquent and a mysterious woodsman with deep pockets, they decide to find Mrs Starch and ensure her safety. Of course, this wouldn’t be a Hiaasen novel without inept corporate baddies, a singing substitute teacher, an endangered Florida panther, a rich grandmother, and an eccentric recluse living with a Macaw that speaks three languages. There’s also a subplot dealing with Nick’s father, who has gone to Iraq with his National Guard unit.

      Ed Asner does a great job reading this book. I love his voices for Twilly, Mrs Starch and Nadine (the macaw).
    • 5/5
      I have have been to the East Coast, many times to Pennsylvania to visit my grandparents. I have never gone south down the East Coast to Florida, where my cousins live, and where Carl Hiaasen’s children’s novels are based. If you are familiar with Hiaasen’s writing, you will know that Scat is much like his other novels, Hoot and Flush, in regards to protecting wildlife, being based in Florida, having the protagonist be a young boy with a female sidekick of some sorts. There is also a theme of big corporations in all of these novels, and there are many real life challenges these characters face, such as bullies at school, mean teachers, moving, having a father go to war, etc. With descriptive language, specific allusions and humor, Hiaasen practically takes the reader and places them into Florida, and into the shoes of the main character.In Scat, Nick and Marta’s most feared biology teacher, Mrs. Starch, goes missing. The principle in the story appears to cover up the truth and be dishonest with where Mrs. Starch is, however Nick and Marta see right through his smoke in mirrors, as the other happenings at the time were just too odd. The class clown, Smoke, has completely cleaned up his act, and Nick thinks that has something to do with the wildfire that occurred on their field trip the day before, when Mrs.Starch disappeared. What does a blur in a video, a teacher’s house full of stuffed animals, a missing mean teacher, a class arsonist, panther droppings, state parks, and rare Florida panthers all have in common? Read this book to find out!
    • 3/5
      This is the third book of Hiaasen’s books for the middle grade/young adult set featuring kids in Florida who try to save the environment/ecology from evil doers. This was an entertaining read; although I didn’t like it as much as Hoot (which I loved) or Flush.Bunny Starch has gone missing; she is the school’s biology teacher and not the most loved teacher out there. However, two of her students (Nick and Marta) think something fishy is going on here. They think it is incredibly odd that Mrs. Starch disappeared on the same day that the class delinquent Smoke did. Especially since Mrs. Starch and Smoke got into an all out brawl the day before. Well Nick and Marta might be right; but little do they realize that both Mrs Starch’s and Smoke’s disappearance are linked to the goings on in Black Vine Swamp.I also enjoy Hiaasen’s witty and snappy writing style. It’s quirky and a little over-the-top funny and always entertaining. However I thought this book had a little bit too much going on and was a bit too scattered. We hear from a number of different characters throughout the story and it jumps around so much it’s a bit jarring and hard to follow. Additionally there are a lot of different issues and stories going on here and it was a lot to follow and digest.For example Nick is dealing with his dad being gone at Iraq. Smoke is dealing with his mom abandoning them and moving to Paris. There is the Red Diamond Energy company that is illegally drilling for oil. Additionally there is the possibility of an endangered cougar roaming through Black Vine Swamp. Then there is the missing Mrs. Starch and a case of arson that Smoke gets blamed for. Most of these ends up being related, some of it not. However it was a lot to put into this little book and resulted in awkward pacing and a story that felt jerky and contrived.I was also a little disappointed that the cougars don’t really make an appearance until very late in the story. They are discussed some throughout; but the majority of the story ends up being about Mrs. Starch’s disappearance, Smoke’s supposed arson, and Nick’s dad in Iraq. It was just a bit of a mess.Things are wrapped up nicely though and in a very tongue in cheek way that is ironic. The writing is fairly easy to read and there is some good action.Overall this was an okay story. There was a bit too much going on here and the story didn’t flow all that well. While I enjoyed the topic of saving endangered species from evil-doers, I thought this was the weakest book so far of these Hiaasen books...which is a pity because the cover is super cute. I would recommend reading Hoot and Flush before this book; this one just isn’t as good as those two were.
    • 4/5
      Although the buffoonery of the bad guys is a little over the top, this is a great story with Hiaasen's trademark quirky characters. The mystery has plenty of twists in the first half of the book, and readers will be kept guessing about what really happened to Mrs. Starch when she disappeared into the Black Vine Swamp. And of course, Hiaasen's passion about saving endangered species comes through in an icing-on-the-cake, utterly un-didactic way.
    • 3/5
      Listened to Listening Library audio narrated by Ed Asner. At first I found Asner's narration to be a relief since I had not been happy with the last few audiobooks' narrators, and he did do very well with the actual narrative sections, but it turned out that dialogue was a bit of a problem. While Asner did his best to differentiate voices, he has such a distinct, gruff kind of voice that the characters all ended up sounding like some variation of Ed Asner.

      The story was very typical Hiaasen: Florida setting - check; environmental them - check; irresponsible/ineffective adults - check, wacky, screwball characters - double check! There were so many issues going on here that I think they overwhelmed the story some though and I simply can't believe that parents would pay the money for a private school run the way the Truman School is described. Still, this was definitely fun and worth the time. I'd recommend reading over listening though.
    • 5/5
      This is a great book in which a crime is committed, a kid framed, and others trying to unravel the case while helping an endangered panther in Florida.
    • 4/5
      So here's the deal. I love Carl Hiaasen. I like the actor, Ed Asner. But Ed Asner, though he's a wonderful actor, is not such a hotsy-totsy voice actor reading a Carl Hiassen book. He can do two voices: Lou Grant (aka Ed Asner) and something else. Any why he gave southern accents to Floridians, I haven't a clue. But it knocked my enjoyment down a notch, so that I had to add the "somewhat-disappointing", simply from the reading, not from the book itself, which was the usual Hiaasen mayhem, though more PG since it was written for the YA audience. For the book itself, a solid 4 stars. For the Ed Asner reading, only 3.
    • 3/5
      Not my favor by Hiaasen, but still enjoyable. Pretty goofy plot with regard to the bad guys, for sure. Loved the school scenes which made it all worthwhile.
    • 4/5
      Scat is Carl Hiaasen’s third book written for the YA crowd. Hoot was the second and Flush was his first. This book is face-paced, fun and full of mystery. It is a true page turner. I have read Carl Hiaasen’s adult books he has crossed seamlessly into the YA genre and claimed his spot as a truly gifted writer.When we first meet Mrs. Starch, “the most feared teacher at the Truman School,” she is terrorizing students, as seen mostly through the eyes of Nick and his friend Marta. But when Mrs. Starch focuses her attention on Duane Scrod (AKA Smoke), he’s not quite as intimidated as he’s supposed to be. Duane, who seems like a delinquent, turns out to have a hidden side—and so does Mrs. Starch. Smoke picks a zit instead of answering the teacher’s question in Biology, whereupon she ruthlessly assigns him to write an essay on pimples. A few days later, when she disappears in the Black Vine Swamp during a field trip and a forest fire, suspicion falls on Smoke, whose name does refer to certain arsonist tendencies.Of course, nothing is quite that straightforward in one of Hiaasen’s books. When the ironically named Bunny Starch fails to reappear, Nick and Marta start trying to find out what has happened to her. They meet a strange man named Twilly who claims to be their teacher’s nephew. They wonder why Smoke has started acting like a human being. And they eventually stumble across a scam involving an oil company and an endangered puma.Great reading for YA aged 12 and up!!WINNER 2009 - Kid's Indie Next List "Inspired Recommendations for Kids from Indie Booksellers"WINNER 2009 - Skipping Stone Honor AwardNOMINEE 2011 - Indiana Young Hoosier Master ListNOMINEE 2012 - Connecticut Nutmeg Children's Book Master List
    • 4/5
      My son will be reading Scat as part of his sixth grade Language Arts assignment, so I decided to try a new strategy: Read his assigned book first so I know what he's reading! It was fun to read this book, making mental notes of plot twists or characters that I thought he would enjoy. And it didn't hurt that Scat was a well-rounded story.Nicky Walters and his friend Marta were students in Mrs. Starch's biology class, when she vanished into the swamp during a field trip. Nicky and Marta were suspicious of their classmate, Smoke, who had a falling out with the teacher during class. Little did Nicky and Marta know that Mrs. Starch and Smoke were in "cohoots" - along with a colorful naturalist, Twilly - to help protect endangered panthers from being killed.Scat had a little bit of everything: well-developed charactes, plot twists, secrets, bad guys, good guys and animals with their own characterizations (I especially loved Horace the bloodhound). Set in Florida, I enjoyed learning about panthers and other wildlife that live in my home state. I was a bit surprised, though, by the anti-Iraq war stance in the novel. While I don't disagree with what Hiassen wrote, I am not sure it had its place in the story. I will be curious to see if my son picks up on it.This is just a little quibble; overall, I was very pleased with Scat and think it's the perfect book for my son and his classmates. I look forward to my son's interpretation of this fun book.
    • 4/5
      I had read Hiaasen's Hoot last year and hoped to fnd another eccentric story from Flordia and was not displeased. In fact, I think I like this book better than Hoot. The book follows a mystery that occurs when a science teacher comes up missing at the conclusion of a class field trip. Adding to the mystery is a general dislike for this particular teacher and an altercation between her and one of the students called smoke. Two of the students seek to uncover what is going on with some side tracks revolving around one of the kid's dad who is in Iraq, some illegal doings of an oil company and some eco concerns. One spends most of the book not really knowing what is going on with the last chapters uncovering and revealing how everything goes together. My daughter and I enjoyed reading this book together. I not only did not mind the collection of eccentric characters, but loved them.
    • 1/5
      This is required reading for incoming 6th graders at my school, and so it is now required reading for me. It's such a bore, with an improbable plot, unrealistically zany characters, and all-too-convenient coincidences that characterize so much popular young adult literature these days. I hope to god it doesn't also become a movie. I'll stick with Hiaasen's newspaper editorials instead of this slick juvenile fictional factory output.
    • 4/5
      A super fun book with Hiassen's usual mix of eccentric, strange, and normal characters. _Scat_ is filled with a bit of mystery, some science and lots of humor. Once you start reading, you won't want to put this one down.