Scat Book Report

Be Astounded! Do you know someone who is stubborn, ornery, or irresponsible? Well, they may surprise you by changing or doing something good. The book Scat, by Carl Hiaasen, is an adventure mystery book that takes place near a nature preserve where there were endangered Florida Panthers. It started with the disappearance of a biology teacher at Truman School - Mrs. Starch - after a fire broke out on a field trip to the preserve. Plus, there was an oil company that was trying to illegally drill for oil in the swamp (near the nature preserve). Mrs. Starch’s students - Nick and Marta - worked together with Duane Scrod Jr, a known arsonist (he is also a student of Mrs. Starch) to reunite an abandoned baby panther with its mother. In all books,

(his nickname is Smoke because of his background of an arsonist) who is in Mrs. Starch’s biology class. He was a very obnoxious student and even consumed half of his teacher’s pencil! Before that happened, he had an argument with his teacher, in which he exclaimed, “Get outta my face… or else you’ll be sorry” (p. 10). Mrs. Starch gave him a punishment of writing an essay about pimples (he was not paying attention, ate half a pencil, and was picking on a zit) and one day (when Mrs. Starch was not there - she is missing), he came into class and his “blazer was pressed and spotless, his khaki trousers were laundered and creased, and his necktie was perfectly knotted. His cheeks looked shiny and scrubbed, his hair was parted and neatly trimmed, and not a speck of grease or grime was visible on his hands.” (p. 103). In other words, Duane Scrod Jr showed up to school with a clean appearance. Since he was very messy, stubborn, and irresponsible just a few days earlier, nobody would have even thought that he could alter his attitude - but he did. He astonished his classmates, headmaster, and even a local detective. To summarize, Duane Scrod Jr was very reckless, but came to class one day with a complete change in the way he