­ I’m back!

To celebrate, here is the first of five Floridian adventure books written by Carl Hiaasen.

The site of Coconut Cove’s future Mother Paula’s All-American Pancake House is experiencing a slight problem: survey stakes removed, alligators in the port-a-potties, and painted-over patrol cars. But who’s behind the clever vandalism?

New Florida resident Roy Eberhardt isn’t aware of these goings-on, but he has noticed a barefoot boy running down the street faster than anything. Curious, Roy starts to follow the boy, only to be told by Beatrice Leep, a.k.a. Beatrice the Bear, to mind his own business.

Despite Beatrice’s warning and plenty of bullying from the lunkheaded Dana Matherson, Roy follows the boy one day and winds up in the middle of an ecological mission to save burrowing owls from being bulldozed.

I love books about kids standing up for what’s right. Kids can see how important it is to have these animals around. They can see the difference between right and wrong. This story shows that kids can make a difference, and sometimes the good guys win.

The worse thing about the bad guys is that they know about the owls and that they’re endangered. They just don’t care. They only care about making money. The all mighty dollar can bring people to do terrible things. I hate that humans have destroyed so many habitats and so many animals just in the name of ‘progress.’ Our actions have consequences for the environment. We share this Earth with the animals. We only have one Earth, so we need to do what we can to keep the planet we have intact.

What makes this book so great is that out of all of Carl Hiaasen’s books, it’s the only one made into a movie.

Released back in 2006, this movie has hilarious dialogue and great performances from the animals, especially the cute little owls. Who would want to hurt those sweet little owls? Interesting fact: Jimmy Buffet co-produced this film and its music and played the role of Mr. Ryan, the science teacher. The best song he sang in the movie is the ending credit song that really sums up the movie’s meaning, ‘Good Guys Win.’ Unfortunately, I can only find this song on YouTube, and it’s not available to buy on iTunes, but here is my favorite part of the song.

Good guys win

 Every once in a while

Full-grown men

Get to learn from a child

Now and then

Just when you think it won’t happen again

The good guys win

I wish someone would make movies based on all of Carl Hiaasen’s books. After you learn about the other four books, you’ll see what I mean.