Hoot

Last Monday, I was free in the afternoon, so I took the Daughter to the local dollar cinema to see Hoot, a movie based on the book by the same name by Carl Hiaasen. The Daughter and I had both read the book - me quite awhile ago and her in late April - and we had enjoyed it. I have not read any of Mr. Hiaasen's books for adults but his two for youth are both very environmentally oriented which is right up my little activists' tree-lined alley.

Hoot was very true to the book; impressively so. I checked with the Daughter on this and she agreed. It is the story of a boy who is new in town and his school and who gets to know a strange boy who does not go to school. As the movie progresses, the new boy discovers that his strange friend is engaged in a covert battle against developers to save the lives of a protected species. The strange boy, dubbed "Mullet Fingers" by his sister, has managed to delay but not stop the development, so the young activists have to find a method that really works. Mr. Hiaasen's stories balance an urgent activism with cautionary evidence that ecoterrorism does not ultimately solve environmental issues - one must figure out how to make the system work correctly to be truly effective. This is good stuff for the Daughter to hear, but the deep respect for the activist characters like Mullet Fingers keep the stories from making the young and passionate sulky about their balanced message.

This movie was well-written, well-performed and visually beautiful. The Daughter and I enjoyed getting to see such a quality story on the big screen and we enjoyed discussing its themes together afterward. I highly recommend it for any little activists at your house!