Scat by Carl Hiaasen

I have always loved Hiaasen's kids books and this one did not disappoint me one bit.  He had a few different plot lines going on that all really dealt with things that kids would be going through in our current environment along with an environmental issue that can't be taken lightly.  The big story was that the biology class went on a field trip, a fire started, one of the teachers went in and did not show up again.  It is all the little things that make the story fun. The teacher, Mrs. Starch, was not loved by her students.  So as happy as they were to not have her teaching, they were concerned about where she was.  Nick was missing his father who was in Iraq.  Duane was just one of those bully students who did not care much about things, but made a change through out the story.  On top of all of that there was some illegal oil well digging and an issue with the endangered Florida Panther.  Hiaasen does a great job weaving all of these things together and you are rooting for the good guys and the panthers and you just don't want it to end.  Great book!!  I hope he writes some more for kids.