as an arrogant, manipulative, ruthless, and corrupt executive, who pretends owls do not live on the site so he can bulldoze over their homes. Leon and Lonna Leep – A couple majorly contrasting in personality, Mr. Leep is Beatrice's decent but apathetic father, an ex-NBA player. He is remarried to a temperamental, narcissistic waitress, Lonna Leep, who wants all the attention she can get, and has a volatile relationship with Mullet Fingers, her son. Kimberly Lou Dixon – An actress and former Miss America runner-up who plays Mother Paula, the spokesperson and corporate mascot for Mother Paula's All-American Pancake House. Garrett – Roy's best and, at first, only friend at Trace Middle School. A skateboarder, popular in school, the king of phony farts, and a D student. His mother is also the school counselor. Viola Hennepin – The vice principal at Trace Middle School. She attempts to discipline Roy on several occasions such as suspending him from the school bus for two weeks, though she knows Dana strangled him. She is described as having one long jet-black hair protruding out of her upper lip; which later mysteriously becomes blonde. Publication history Carl Hiaasen started writing children's books when he realized that the other novels that he had written were too adult for his nieces and nephews. In writing his first young adult novel, Hiaasen faced some challenges: "The biggest challenge was trying not to subconsciously 'write down' for young readers." Hiaasen said, "When I was creating the character in Hoot, I'm sure I stole liberally from my pre-adolescence." Themes The themes in the novel are friendship, teamwork, growing up, corruption, parental love, kinship, environmentalism and integrity. The character goes through different adventures to get here. Critical reception Horn Book Magazine Reviews said, “Hoot is quintessential Hiaasen … peopled with original and wacky characters… Not consistently a hoot, but worthy of a holler. Hiaasen's first YA book succeeds as a humorous diversion.” Publishers Weekly claims that "With a Florida setting and pro-environment, anti-development message, Hiaasen returns to familiar turf for his first novel for young readers… Several suspenseful scenes, along with dollops of humor, help make this quite a hoot indeed." Adaptations A film adaptation of the book was released in May 2006, starring Luke Wilson as Officer Delinko, Logan Lerman as Roy Eberhart, Brie Larson as Beatrice Leep, Tim Blake Nelson as Leroy Brannit, Neil Flynn as Mr. Eberhart, Robert