SCAT
A Mystery Novel By: Carl Hiaasen
Author's tone/mood
The tone/mood of SCAT is mixed. There is some dark humor in the book, but it also serious because it talks about wildlife and about saving the panthers. It is also very suspenseful. It is always making us wonder what will happen next.
Summary of SCAT
SCAT is about Nick and Marta trying to find Mrs. Starch once she goes missing after the arson during their field trip to Black Vine Swamp. Nick and Marta encounter Twilly who not only saved Mrs. Starch from the fire, but she is also working with Twilly and Duane Scrod Junior to save a baby panther. Nick and Marta team up with Twilly, Mrs. Starch, and Duane to find the panthers mother which was scared off after the Red Diamond Energy Corporation shot gun shots. They also started the fire at Black Vine Swamp to keep the kids away from Section 22 where Drake McBride and Jimmy Lee Bayliss were illegally pumping oil from. Though they though Duane Scrod Junior was the arson at first, but in the end, Duane Scrod Junior was proven innocent, Drake McBride and Jimmy Lee Bayliss were proven guilty, and they found the mother panther and reunited the two. That is what SCAT was about.
Authors Message
I think the author's message was to entertain us with some the dark humor that was used within the book. Not only that, but I also think it was to inform us about panthers and how they are endangered species. I think they also wanted to inform us about Black Vine Swamp. Although it isn't a real place, it is based on one, so it informs us about Black Vine Swamp which is a lot like the actually place itself. That is what I think the author's message was of this book.
Characters in SCAT
There are many characters in SCAT, but I am only going to describe three of them:
Mrs. Starch: A biology teacher at Truman Academy. All of her students think she is very mean, but in the end we learn that isn't that mean because she stayed in the swamp to help a baby panther. Mrs. Starch also wears her dyed blonde hair piled to one side and a polyester pants suit a drab pastel color.
Smoke/Duane Scrod Junior: He is kid that minds his own business. He used to be Duane the Dweeb, but then one summer he grew five inches and gained thirty-one pounds. Since then he wanted people to call him Smoke. Lot's of people thought it was because he was a pyro. He did set fires, but he said he didn't do that anymore, but the detective and fire inspector didn't believe that because they thought he set the arson at Black Vine Swamp.
Millicent Winship: She is seventy-seven years old, and weighs ninety-two pounds, and she was ridiculously rich. She is the mother of the girl who married Duane Scrod Sr. but she fled to Paris and opened a fancy cheese shop. Millicent felt bad that she just left Duane Sr. to raise Duane Jr. on his own, and she thought one of the best ways she could help him is by giving Duane Jr. a good education.
Mrs. Starch: A biology teacher at Truman Academy. All of her students think she is very mean, but in the end we learn that isn't that mean because she stayed in the swamp to help a baby panther. Mrs. Starch also wears her dyed blonde hair piled to one side and a polyester pants suit a drab pastel color.
Smoke/Duane Scrod Junior: He is kid that minds his own business. He used to be Duane the Dweeb, but then one summer he grew five inches and gained thirty-one pounds. Since then he wanted people to call him Smoke. Lot's of people thought it was because he was a pyro. He did set fires, but he said he didn't do that anymore, but the detective and fire inspector didn't believe that because they thought he set the arson at Black Vine Swamp.
Millicent Winship: She is seventy-seven years old, and weighs ninety-two pounds, and she was ridiculously rich. She is the mother of the girl who married Duane Scrod Sr. but she fled to Paris and opened a fancy cheese shop. Millicent felt bad that she just left Duane Sr. to raise Duane Jr. on his own, and she thought one of the best ways she could help him is by giving Duane Jr. a good education.
4-Star Rating
I really liked the book. It was very interesting to me, and it makes you just want to keep on reading with all of the cliffhangers, but the thing I didn't like is that is was so predictable. I figured that they would save the panther, and that Mrs. Starch was going to be okay. I also thought they could have included a little more mystery since it is a mystery novel. That is why I gave it 4 out of 5 stars.
Scat book trailer by Maya K.