Monday, April 14, 2014

Hiaasen Author Study: Making Connections

Ladies and Gentlemen,

For the next couple of days, your assignment is to respond to this post. Please remember to show the world what great readers and thinkers you are through your comments on this post.

As of this morning, you should have read through chapter eight.

Your mission is to name and explain the best things that the author has done as a writer. Is Mr. Hiaasen using onomatopoeia? How about similes and metaphors? What are some of the words and phrases he uses to describe characters and settings? Can you find some great examples of dialog? Your job is to pick apart the writing and identify the techniques the author is using to keep you hooked.

Make sure that you use evidence from the text to support your thinking. Your comment is required to have multiple paragraphs - each with a quote from the text, including page and paragraph numbers.

As usual, after you have your comment approved, you need to respond to at least three other readers.

Thanks for pushing your thinking, Dragons!

~ Mr. Moore and Ms. Vander Velde

90 comments:

  1. I think that in the 7th chapter in the book "Scat" by Carl Hiaasen, the best thing the author has done is that he describes what Mrs. Winship, Duan's grandmother, is saying and why she is at Duane's house.
    Also, for the other chapters, there is a lot of descriptions. Mr. Hiaasen is not using onomatopoeia. There are no similes or metaphors that I can find, but there might still be some that I have missed.
    He has done a great job describing the settings and characters. For example, he described Mrs. Starch as "that mean old hag." To me, the best example of dialog in this book is " 'Nobody told us. We thought you had the flu.' 'I wish.' Said Nick." The one thing that is keeping me hooked on this book is the interesting characters.

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    1. @ Izzy I agree that the author did a great job describing the settings and the characters. A simile I think you missed is " I felt like a crab claw at the end of my arm." I also made a guess about the mystery. Remember when the author said that Mrs. Starch's husband had gone lost. They also said that Smoke was looking for snakes. I thought that when Mrs. Starch went back she might of seen her husband. Then maybe Smoke felt sad and changed. They also include in the book that the day after the field trip Smoke was a very good student. And remember when Nick though he saw a panther but it looked like the panther was wearing a belt. What do you think?

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    2. Stella, Where was the quote "I felt like a crab claw at the end of my arm?" Maybe this mystery does have something to do with Mrs. Starch's husband. I think that it is strange that a panther would be wearing a belt. The quote is "Your 'panther' is wearing a belt!" on page 40, the last sentence in the 2nd paragraph.

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    3. @Izzy, I disagree with you for this reason, I have came upon some onomatopoeia such as Boom! in the campfire, and Aww!. I think you can improve on adding quotes fromn the text in your writing.
      Otherwise I agree with you when you say in chapter seven the author does good description describing Ms. Millicent Winship.

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    4. @Izzy I really enjoy your comment it makes me want to read " Scat " I like how you put the page numbers but you did not put sentences from the book. I am not reading the same book but at the end you said the thing that keeps you hooked is the characters you should explain how they look and what they are like. Other than that I really like your comment.

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    5. Izzy,
      I have read the book Scat before in a reading group and it is amazing and funny. I like how you added a quote from the text, for a character and I especially like the quote that you used because it made me laugh. I think that the most interesting part of the whole book is the characters to but also the problem. I think that if I did not ever read this book I would not clearly know about the characters and about the book.

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    6. Izzy my best friend,
      I read your post and I'm reading the book Scat now. Izzy I loved how you told me about chapter 7th, although I have not been able to read it yet it sound great. I also loved how you told us what kind of person Mrs. Starch is. For the truth I really I agree with her being a mean old hag because the text said in the beginning “Mrs. Starch was the most feared teacher at the Truman School” and it also told us how the student walk in the class, it said “the students trudged silently, as alway.” These part really told me what kind of person Mrs. Starch is. I really do hope I'll heard more from you later. One more thing I haven't found any onomatopoeia, similes, or metaphors. We really do need to try to see more of the book don't we?

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  2. In page 86 Hiaason had Shelly said something you probably didn't expect in the book Flush. When Shelly told Noah what happened to Lice Peaking and this was a guess I think it said here "I think whoever snatched him killed him." This is bad because if someone killed Lice from the Coral Queen than this means Noah could get killed by them too if the people there knows what he is doing. I didn't think that would happen to Lice but it says here that there was a bloodstain in the jeep "Shelly pointed to a dark reddish smudge on the dashboard." In page 90 it made me interested too because Shelly is going to work for Dusty Muleman it says here "Yup I start tomorrow night." I wonder what she can find out about Dusty?

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    1. Jayce,
      I like how you used quotes from the book to connect to your thinking. I do disagree with you though. I think that Shelly would say that someone snatched him and killed him because when Noah asked why she thought that Shelly said " Dead? Number One, he hasn't called up beggin' to come home," Shelly said "which is totally not like him. Number two, none of his local party pals have heard from him, not a peep. Number three was that ugly bad gorilla who came to the trailer that night, and number four was the blood in my car." I also think that she would say that because she is a really scary type of girl. I do like your post though because you had lots of thinking in it and I like how you put a question in your post. I also wonder what Shelly will find out to?
      Thank you,
      Skyla

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    2. @Jayce,
      Could you maybe tell which paragraph or paragraphs and the sentence number? I also overlooked the page and saw that Shelly was crying. Here’s the quote of what I think you were trying to say, “Know how I spent my morning Noah”?
      “No, ma’am.”
      “Scrubbing blood stains off the upholstery!”
      I do like your post though.

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    3. @ Jayce I like how you just got right to the point because you have information about your book. But I don't understand this part in your comment "I think whoever snatched him killed him." This is bad because if someone killed Lice from the Coral Queen than this means Noah could get killed by them too if the people there knows what he is doing. When you start the sentence This is bad... Are you saying the words that they are saying in the book?

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  3. I am reading this book called "Flush"and I think in one part of the chapters that I have read it said that Noah was going to the Coral Queen, to see if there was anything that could help his father get out of jail. The way he said it was like he was riding his bike near the beach, but he was really going to the Coral Queen. There was this other part where Shelly came out of no where and just told Noah to come in, and they both went to where Lice had died. I think that where this story has it's setting is mostly where the beach is at. I found a piece of dialog for the whole Shelly thing. "What makes you think Lice is....you know......" "Dead?" and I think that this dialog would help me understand what I said. I think this could be a metaphor " It wouldn't have surprised me to start getting MTV from Kyrgyzstan" I think that could have been about the dish that he broke the dish for the TV. There might have been similes and onomatopoeia in the chapters that I have read. But I think that I was reading it and didn't see them. I think that the auther did try to hook me when it said that there was going to a divorce for Noah parents, but I found out something different.

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    1. @Destinee what I understood is that the main problem is the Lice death and Noah is trying to figure out who killed him. The same thing in my book "Scat" Nick's biology teacher has gone missing and Nick and his friend Marta are looking for there missing teacher.

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    2. @ Stella I agree with you, it is the same thing but in a different way. In my book lice died but in your book NIck's teacher went missing. How did the teacher go missing in the first place?

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    3. Destinee, I am not reading "Flush," so I would like to know: who is the Coral Queen? Also, how did his dad get in jail? When you said 'But I found out something different.' What did you mean?

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    4. Destinee, in the book "Scat" the way that the teacher went missing, is that the children were on a field trip, and there was a wildfire. The teacher went back to retrieve a student's inhaler, because the student in question has constant asthma attacks.

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    5. I like that you are telling us that Shelly is driving where Lice died with Noah. What did you find different that Noah's parents are getting divorced? Is there a quote that said that Shelly was taking Noah to where Lice Peeking died?

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    6. @ Destinee it all starts when they had a field trip to the Black Vine Swamp. At the field trip the student were divided into groups. When Nick's group finished eating lunch, Mrs. Scratch blew her boat horn which means that all the groups need to meet. Mrs. Scratch said " A small wildfire has sprung up the far edge of the swamp." So they had to leave but a girl named Libby forgot her inhaler so Mrs. Scratch went back to get the inhaler. The other teachers had to get the students back to the school. The next day after the field trip Mrs. Scratch was not there. And there starts the mystery.

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    7. @ Destinee it all starts when they had a field trip to the Black Vine Swamp. At the field trip the student were divided into groups. When Nick's group finished eating lunch, Mrs. Scratch blew her boat horn which means that all the groups need to meet. Mrs. Scratch said " A small wildfire has sprung up the far edge of the swamp." So they had to leave but a girl named Libby forgot her inhaler so Mrs. Scratch went back to get the inhaler. The other teachers had to get the students back to the school. The next day after the field trip Mrs. Scratch was not there. And there starts the mystery.

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    8. @ Izzy the Coral Queen is a big boat that this guy Dusty Mulman owns. The Coral Queen has many glorys to it. Noah's father got in jail by sinking the Coral Queen because he had this thing about Dusty Mulman. The thing that Noah's father has with Dusty is that he really does not like him. But I found something different means that Noah's mom might not get divorced.

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    9. @ Destinee, I like how you are using a lot of information about what the characters are doing, but I think what you need is to tell us what they are saying. I think that you need to put more quits and less about what the people are doing as the story is going on. I do like your thinking, but you just need to put more of what the people are saying.

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  4. In the book "Flush" The author uses very descriptive words like chomped which is some of the stuff our blog post tells us to do which is onomatopoeia. Another word that they used as onomatopoeia is buzz. These are some of the words that the author used in the book Flush. There is also a lot more onomatopoeia like in pg. 81 there is crumbled and yeah the other 2 onomatopoeias are in page 59 which is chomped and the other one is in pg. 82 which is buzz. These are some of the great vocabulary that the author is using.

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    1. Edgar I like that you are telling us that there are onomatopoeia words in the book Flush. I also like that you are telling us which page are these onomatopoeia words. How do you know that these are in the book? Is there quotes in the book so we know that these words are in the book like buzz or chomped?

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    2. I enjoy how you told the page number so all of us can find it. I think that you could have put more more descriptive sentences than onomatopoeia. I think that you could put more sentences from the book. I really like your thinking but that's the only thing that I would change I like you thinking.

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    3. @ Edgar I liked how you put the page number but I don't think that chomped is an onomatopoeia or either crumbled. Did the author use any similes or metaphors or any great dialog?

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    4. @ Edgar I think that you know what your taking about but talk about something that your reader would like to hear. Their are a lot of things that you could talk about besides onomatopoeia. For example you could talk about the setting and the main character. Tell me if that helped with something.

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    5. @ Edgar, I like how you are telling me what the other is using, but what you need is to tell more about what you reading and not about what the author is saying. I think that you need more quits and more about what the settings are. I think that you also need to tell us what and were the characters are going.

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  5. I'm reading the book " Scat" by Carl Hiaasen. I think it is a great book because it has good dialog, for example " Section 22 is right below us?"
    "Yes sir" "And section 21 is over there?" " That's right . . ."
    I also think the book is great because the author uses great word choices to describe people or places. Flushed. The author used that word to describe Nick's face when he was nervous or when the author said" Nick grumbled under his breathe." The author also uses the word overjoyed. "Dr. Wendell Waxmo was overjoyed." The author used a good simile to describe how Nick felt writing in his left hand " Writing left handed felt weird, like having a crab claw on the end of his arm."

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    1. Hi Stella!
      It's Joey. I really liked your comment. I especially liked when you showed us the part in the book when he was describing what it felt like to write with your left hand. I don't have anything to disagree with you since I am reading Flush.
      Bye!

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    2. Stella, I think that you did a good job on putting some dialogue in your comment. However, I think that you could put the page numbers and paragraphs in your comment, so that people can know where to find that quote. Also, in the quote "Nick grumbled under his breathe." Do you mean "... under his breath?''

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    3. Dear Stella, I agree that there is some great dialogue in the book Scat. Stella I like how you say your opinion about the book what you like about the author and how he does things. One thing I think you can work on is not saying also so much, and kind of making it where we can understand better. A way that might help you is using transition words. For example instead of saying also, you can say to add . Otherwise your writing is good because you put worth effort by giving your opinion and giving text form the book.

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    4. @ Izzy who do you think is behind the mystery? I think that Smoke put the fire. When Mrs. Scratch went back she might of seen him so she blackmailed him if he does not get better she'd tell the cops.In the book the author said the the day after the field trip Smoke was like an angel he was very respectful.

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    5. @ Stella I think that you have a lot of knowledge about what your say for example you said "Section 22 is right below us?"
      "Yes sir" "And section 21 is over there?" " That's right. But I think that you go on and on and not really making a point about your saying. So support what you saying so I don't get bored. Good work love it.

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    6. Good job Stella on your comment! I like how you put in your post the great dialog you found in the book. Although, I am not reading the book "Scat" so I am not familiar Who is Dr. Wendell Waxmo? Is he a teacher, Doctor what does he do?

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    7. @ Stella I think that you did a god job but when I was reading your comment I didn't really understand when you said "Yes sir" "And section 21 is over there?" " That's right . . .". What does that mean? Why did you have to put "And section 21 is over there?" Was that part of the story because that does make sense and it's not a question?

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  6. Hello!
    In the story, Mr. Hiassen doesn't use that much onomatopoeia but, there is still some in there. I think Mr. Hiassen did a better job on similes,metaphors, and amazing dialogue than anything else. The part of the book that drew me in was in chapter seven, page 73, second paragraph when the author said "The guy turned out to be a 'knucklehead' (Mom's word again), and after only two years she pulled the plug." That was the part that really got me into the book.

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    1. "Flush"
      "Does Mom really think dad is a nutcase" Mom says no but she probably does think that he is a nutcase."I think that Carl Hiaasen has done a wonderful job in explaining most of the characters so far in the book. Here is a good sentence Hiaasen had written in the book "Better shape up, Dad. Remember what happened to the last knucklehead Mom married." I like how Hiaasen used Knucklehead and the the sentence "Better shape up." The thing that gets me really hooked is that when I read a chapter that it ends good and leaves me to keep on reading. I also like how Hiaasen says in the book that when mule man was sleeping he compared it to how it sounded like Godzilla snoring.

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    2. I like that you are telling us that Hiaason is not using that much descriptive words and stuff in the book for you now. What book are you reading? Why does this quote get you hooked to the book "The guy turned out to be a 'knucklehead'.

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    3. @Joey I think that you did a great job on you comment. I do agree with you that the part that got you hooked is really good. Which was "The guy turned out to be a 'knucklehead' and that was my favorite part to. I really like how you told us were you found the text. Great job!

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    4. @Joey I really like your thinking I totally agree with you with everything even that there are not that much onomatopoeia. I like how you put the page numbers in there so now I can see the stuff that you put in you comment from the book. I like your comment.

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    5. Hi Joey, I agree with you, in the book "Scat" I don't think that there was any onomatopoeia in what I have read, or I just don't remember any onomatopoeia. I also agree with you that there is some really good similes, metaphors, and amazing dialog. In "Scat" on page 342 paragraph 9, it says, "Pulling even with a terrified wild panther cub attached like a cactus to his flesh, yowling and spitting in his face." The author was great at describing how the panther cub stuck to him and how horrible that would have been. Plus, the author used a great simile.

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  7. I think that the author does not describe a lot of people than you think he would but he can do some pretty good words and description. Like on the page 86 the author said "A bright blue flame flare from the barrel. He used a onomatopoeia when he said on chapter eight page 82 the author said “Dads TV interview was the buzz of the key”I think that the author uses great words to describe a lot of words.

    I would like to share some other descriptions with you. on page 81 it Hiaasen said “The old tank was rusting away”. Theres another one on page 81 “I reached underneath and found a patch of pitted metal that crumbled like a stale cracker”. There is a lot on page 81 another one is “I made a hole so large that I could stick my fist inside.

    I love the book so far I can not find any similes or metaphors but I love the book and I think that the author is very descriptive in his books.

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    1. @joey
      What book are you reading? Other than that I like your thinking because You really did a nice job at taking quotes out of the book to support your thinking. Nice job.

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    2. @joey I like how you were showing were you found the text and putting them into quotes. I like the how it said "I reached underneath and found a patch of pitted metal that crumbled like a stale cracker." That was also my favorite part, Great job on your work!

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    3. @ Joey what book are you reading? Mr. Hiaasen used some similes and good word choices but he did not use any metaphors or any onomatopoeia. For example when Mr. Hiaasen said "Writing left handed felt weird, like having a crab claw on the end of his arm." Also in the book "Scat" there is a mystery in the book. The mystery is about Nick's missing teacher Mrs. Scratch. It all started when the class had a field trip. A girl named Libby left her inhaler so Mrs. Scratch went back to get it. The next day she was not there. If you would like to read the book online go to google books then search up teh book "Scat".

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  8. Mr. Hiaasen has been using onomatopoeia, though he hasn't been using metaphors out of what I’ve read so far in Flush. Though Carl has had Abby in a sarcastic, angry and sad mood such as on page 76 paragraph five says “Noah”! Mom scolded, and instantly my sister started bawling again.”

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    1. Actually Jacob he uses more metaphors then onomatopoeia. There are about 6 times that an onomatopoeia is used. I don't understand the random quote that you put at the bottom I see why you use the Sarcastic and angry but you need to add more about the quote.

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  9. While reading the book,” Scat” I have noticed the author using onomatopoeia. For example the author using Boom!, Pop!, Aww!. Not only does the author do good with onomatopoeias he does great with descriptions. For example on page 96 paragraph 4 it reads, “ Writing left-handed felt weird, like having a crab claw on the end of his arm.”

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  10. The author has done great diloge. On page 83 the characters start talking "Is it bad news?" "No, I should think not" "Then tell me. Pleas" "I wish I could" Oh and the author has really great onomatopoeia. Like on page 82 "... was the buzz ..." The author also uses great vocabulary in his books. The author is great.

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  11. Mr. Hiaasen, the author of my book "Hoot" has provided great work here. Mr. Hiaasen has been using similes to describe what the characters are going to be like. So far, the author has been using the best similes on Roy. It was on page 15, and it said "Roy was gulping like a beached trout."Mr. Hiaasen has also been describing Dana Matherson. Mr. Hiaasen said to describe Dana. Here is one thing "Dana Matherson grabbed Roy's head from behind and pressed his thumbs into Roy's temple, as if he were squeesing a soccer ball." I think that Mr. Hiaasen has been using this to describe him as a tough boy. This is a simile that Mr. Hiaasen is using on top. Officer Delinko is one of the characters that Mr. Hiaasen has been doing great work on too. Mr. Hiaasen used a metaphor and this is what is what said. "Officer Delinko wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer. I think that Mr. Hiaasen is doing a great job in his book right now.

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  12. While I've been reading the book "Hoot" it's been fun reading it and while reading it onomatopoeia has come up like once every chapter. Like in Chapter 2 at the end of page 13 it say "The bus wheezed" as it comes to a stop. I love the way the author uses his similes it is just like you could picture the whole thing. Mr. Hiaasen doesn't use metaphors as much as he uses similes. The way the author describes the characters is just mind blowing because he has a visual seeing of everything and I love it. Just like I was reading in a few chapters ago he describes that girl on the bus and her glasses with her blond hair it was like she was right in front of me. I read a lot of dialog in the book "Hoot" and the author is really good at everything that he does explaining it.

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    1. Hello!
      It is Joey (cousin Joey). I liked your comment and the fact that you mentioned everything that you liked in the story. It was also helpful for you to give us the page numbers. It's a bummer that I can't look at the book because I'm reading "Flush".
      Bye!

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  13. Mr. Hiaasen, the author of my book "Hoot" has provided great work here. Mr. Hiaasen has been using similes to describe what the characters are going to be like. So far, the author has been using the best similes on Roy. It was on page 15, and it said "Roy was gulping like a beached trout."Mr. Hiaasen has also been describing Dana Matherson. Mr. Hiaasen said to describe Dana. Here is one thing "Dana Matherson grabbed Roy's head from behind and pressed his thumbs into Roy's temple, as if he were squeesing a soccer ball." I think that Mr. Hiaasen has been using this to describe him as a tough boy. This is a simile that Mr. Hiaasen is using on top. Officer Delinko is one of the characters that Mr. Hiaasen has been doing great work on too. Mr. Hiaasen used a metaphor and this is what is what said. "Officer Delinko wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer. I think that Mr. Hiaasen is doing a great job in his book right now.

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  14. The best thing that Mr. Hiaasen did as a writer so far in “Hoot” is that he is keeping you hooked on the book. Mr. Hiaasen isn't really using onomatopoeia in this story but, Mr. Hiaasen did a good job with similes, metaphors, but, the one thing that got me to like this book is the running boy in the beginning of this book that is all the way back to page one paragraph three that just made me think, if I were in that situation I wouldn't let Dana smudge me against the glass just because he has fun being a mean selfish bully. Mr. Hiaasen had wrote in the book that they were picking up people so I inferred that it was in the morning. I wouldn't let him keep bullying me after the first time.

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  15. Recently I have been reading the book Hoot. I this book the author uses a lot of describing words lIke “broad triangular heads” or “dipped in blue and silver sparkles, the kind used in art an project” (page 51).
    So far Carl Hiaasen has not used a metaphor or simile though which makes me think that he is one of the writers who just likes to make the story sound a little bit more true but still keeps going a little bit across the line of truth.
    Carl Hiaasen has used many extra side stories like the store on pages 52 and 53 where it tells about how he stood still for 2 hours because he saw a bear.

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    1. On page 1 Carl Hiaason used a simile and a metaphor. Paragraph 2, it says,"Dana Matherson grabbed Roy's head from behind and pressed his thumbs into Roy's temple, as if he were squeezing a soccer ball." After that he started keeping the beat of similes and metaphors throughout the whole book. How good do you think the book is so far? I think that it is a really good book so far (in opinion).

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  16. Dear Stella, I agree that there is some great dialogue in the book Scat. Stella I like how you say your opinion about the book what you like about the author and how he does things. One thing I think you can work on is not saying also so much, and kind of making it where we can understand better. A way that might help you is using transition words. For example instead of saying also, you can say to add . Otherwise your writing is good because you put worth effort by giving your opinion and giving text form the book.

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  17. Carl Hiassen has been one of my favorite authors after I read “Chomp” because he used some really good detail when he was describing a noun. Carl Hiassen hasn't been using onomatopoeia in the book “Hoot”. I think that he will when we get halfway into the book. Carl Hiassen has bin using quite a bit of similes. For example (pg15) "The boy was still far ahead of him, and Roy was gulping like a Beach Trout." Here's an example in the book on how the author uses a phrase to describe a person or setting. "Where ya goin', cowgirl?" The person who said this is Dana Matherson. Carl Hiassen has tons of great examples of dialog. For example, on page 88. I like how Curly uses his accent when he talks. For example, “It’s suppose to keep on rainin’ all week.” Here is another example. On page 56, Roy is speaking. Ilike this part of dialog because I like snakes and I think when Roy said rattlers, I think that meant Rattlesnakes. “Where I used to live we had lots of rattlers.” Roy said.

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  18. I am reading Flush and the best thing that the author does is put in scientific facts that are originally complicated simplified. I do not like this book so far it is really hard to get hooked on this book. But recently I like this book because of the action that happened in chapter 12. When Noah's Dad got a probation anklet. He took it off but then an officer came to there house and now Noah has to stall untill his dad gets the anklet back on. I am reading another Carl Hiaasen book and it is better. I was also wondering how did the author come up with these names they fit perfectly in the story mostly Lice Peaking, Abby, and Noah. The cool thing is all the drama that is going on with his dad and the interview was "The interview was the Buzz of the Keys." I think that Chomp was a very descriptive book they were they were talking about how "The Great Derek Badger" had a fake Southern Australian Accent.

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  19. While reading the book,” Scat” I have noticed the author using onomatopoeia. For example the author using Boom!, Pop!, Aww!. Not only does the author do good with onomatopoeias he does great with descriptions. For example on page 96 paragraph 4 it reads, “ Writing left-handed felt weird, like having a crab claw on the end of his arm.”




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  20. Dear Stella, I agree that there is some great dialogue in the book Scat. Stella I like how you say your opinion about the book what you like about the author and how he does things. One thing I think you can work on is not saying also so much, and kind of making it where we can understand better. A way that might help you is using transition words. For example instead of saying also, you can say to add . Otherwise your writing is good because you put worth effort by giving your opinion and giving text form the book.

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  21. Dear Stella, In the book,"Scat " I'm confused between the characters Drake Mcbride and Jimmy Lee Bayliss and what their
    job is. It would really help me out if you could help me out to figure out what their man job is in the book please and thank you. My opinion is that Drake Mcbride and Jimmy Lee Bayliss are the bad guys because in chapter 12 Jimmy Lee Bayliss lied to the cops on page 157 when they were investigating more into the camp fire. !57 paragraph 2," I believe I have," Jimmy lees Bayliss said,furrowing his brow in fake concentration.,"Matter fact, I'm sure of it "

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  22. I think that the best thing the author has done as a writer would be using unique characteristics for every character like for example Shelly is more punk scary kind of lady but Abbey is more soft hearted and loving and caring (Sometimes!). I think that Carl Hiaasen wanted Shelly to be scary because he makes Shelly have a gun.
    “I got into the car because I was scared to say no. The thought of Shelly chasing me down and dragging me feet-first into her Jeep was not appealing.”
    That makes me see that Shelly could be harsh and very mean! I can also tell from this that from the past chapters, Shelly had to do something or say something to make Noah Think about that.
    “...I decided not mention the silver-barreled gun that lay on the console between us.”
    This dialog tells me that Shelly is scary because she is carrying a gun. Noah was scared of the gun that she had because of how she uses things and how she acts and how she looks. Shelly’s gun was really a lighter that she was going to scare people with so as you can tell, Shelly is very scary.
    What the author does that makes me notice Shelly is that every time Noah sees her or is by her, she always has something that looks scary. For example, a lighter-gun, a baseball bat and a barb wire tattoo on her bicep. I think that the author does that to every character to make them stand out, for example, with Abbey he makes her bite this guy really hard so that makes her stand out and that sticks in my mind.

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  23. I think that in the book ''Scat'' the real mystery is actually starting to unfold in chapter 13. There is now illegal oil drilling. There is also people setting fires on purpose. I think that that is called arson.

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  24. Mr. Hiaasen is a brilliant author who uses metaphors like "officer Delinko wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer" or Roy was gulping like a beachead trout are just some of the great things that Mr. Hiaasen uses in his writing.
    Mr. Hiaasen also uses lots of great describing words that he uses on his characters like Mullet fingers he said that "he was using a false husky tone- the voice of a kid trying to sound like a grown up.
    I think that Carl Hiaasen is using so much good describing words that it makes the book sound real like it is coming from the characters and not just random people that are in a completely different state of mind.

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  25. Carl Hiassen has been one of my favorite authors after I read “Chomp” because he used some really good detail when he was describing his dads foot.For example on pages 26 and 27, “ Wahoo emptied a tube of antiseptic ointment on his fathers foot, and with a butter knife he spread the goop over all the puncture holes.” Carl Hiassen hasn't been using onomatopoeia in the book “Hoot”. I think that he will when we get halfway into the book. Carl Hiassen has bin using quite a bit of similes. For example (pg15) "The boy was still far ahead of him, and Roy was gulping like a Beach Trout." Here's an example in the book on how the author uses a phrase to describe a person or setting. "Where ya goin', cowgirl?" The person who said this is Dana Matherson. Carl Hiassen has tons of great examples of dialog. For example, on page 88. I like how Curly uses his accent when he talks. For example, “It’s suppose to keep on rainin’ all week.” Here is another example. On page 56, Roy is speaking. I like this part of dialog because I like snakes and I think when Roy said rattlers, I think that meant Rattlesnakes. “Where I used to live we had lots of rattlers.” Roy said.

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  26. Carl Hiaasen's award winning book called 'Hoot' is a book that most teachers and librarians recommend to people like us. This book offers drama,adventure and imagination and that's the ingrediants to a good book that gets people's attention. there is a ton of things to look out for in this book :Who are the characters introduced in the book , where does the story take place,and whats going on in the book. Characters in the book all make up this story like Roy Eberhardt , Officer Delinko , Beatrice the bear, Curly, and Mullet fingers . the story basically takes place in Florida but the Main character, Roy, has just moved there but never really had a hometown due to relocation. This story is mostly about a kid named Roy who tries to find out who is mullet fingers and what does he do while also dealing with the school bully named Dana Matherson who later gets arrested by a lie made by Roy on purpose.There is clues in what they say that lets out a little bit of their personality like when him and his dad were arguing about saving wild life , Roy said "How would you and mom like it if a bunch of strangers showed up one day with bulldozers one day to flatten there house"he knew the animals were going through bad changes. For more action, Read the book , "Hoot".
    By:Eddie

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    1. I like that you say that a good book should have drama, adventure, and imagination like Hoot. How does the drama and adventure make the book Hoot a good book? Is there something that makes you think that there is drama like a quote?

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    2. Great job Eddie,
      I had no clue how great you were in writing and saying how Carl Hiaasen has the award winning book. I also agree with you that in the book "Hoot" there should be drama, adventure, and imagination. Also why would you like to have drama in the book or adventure? Great job Eddie on "Hoot"
      ~Dalahi

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  27. Recently I have been reading the book "Hoot". I this book the author uses a lot of describing words lIke “broad triangular heads” or “dipped in blue and silver sparkles, the kind used in art an project” (page 51).
    So far Carl Hiaasen has not used a metaphor or simile though which makes me think that he is one of the writers who just likes to make the story sound a little bit more true but still keeps going a little bit across the line of truth.
    Carl Hiaasen has used many extra side stories like the story on pages 52 and 53 where it tells about how he stood still for 2 hours because he saw a bear. This part really had me reading to find out what would happen to Roy.

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  28. Dear Mr. Moore,
    I am reading Flush and the best thing that the author does is put in scientific facts that are originally complicated simplified. I do not like this book so far it is really hard to get hooked on this book. But recently I like this book because of the action that happened in chapter 12. When Noah's Dad got a probation anklet. He took it off but then an officer came to there house and now Noah has to stall untill his dad gets the anklet back on. I think that was awesome. I am reading another Carl Hiaasen book and it is better. I was also wondering how did the author come up with these names they fit perfectly in the story mostly Lice Peaking, Abby, and Noah. The cool thing is all the drama that is going on with his dad and the interview was "The interview was the Buzz of the Keys." I think that Chomp was a very descriptive book they were they were talking about how "The Great Derek Badger" had a fake Southern Australian Accent. It gets good then drops back down to being boring and all the junk about Mr. Shine. He is doing a 1/2 and 1/2 job. To see all the other books that he wrote copy and paste this- www.carlhiaasen.com/‎ into the search bar.
    -Jaylon

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  29. Deer readers, I have been reading "Chomp". Carl Hiaasen has been doing lots of great diologe. Like on page 37 he had this diologe, "We're late," and "For heaven's sake, put on some clothes." This diologe has like action in it. The author has also been really good at details. On page 25 "Snakes don't have taste buds on their tongues like people do, so it wasn't the flavor of bourbon that Beulah hated." Hiaasen hasn't had onomatopoeia yet but I think that he will. Those are all the things that he has done.

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  30. Before chapter eight Roy had found out that The running boy is Beatrice Leep's brother. Roy had encountered with the running boy, but couldn't see him because the running boy had put a sack around his head and said "When I take this sack off count to fifty until you turn around." Roy did as he was told and when he turned around nothing was there. In chapter eight Roy promised never to follow the running boy again as long as nothing was going on that was important in order for him to encounter with the running boy again. So than after that Roy's suspension from the bus had been lifted and Roy didn't want that to happen because he would have to deal with Dana Matherson(again). In the book "HOOT" there are some two major problems. One is that there is going to be an all American mother paula's pancake house, but the problem is that there are owl burrows where the construction cite is. The other problem is what I have been explaining to you the whole time which is that Roy wants to find out who the running boy is. This is what I am trying to find out to because this is what I like in books, I like mysteries and when I read books with mysteries I feel like I am also in the book, like I am included in what they are doing and I think that it would be so much fun if I actually was.

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  31. I feel like the best thing that he has done is really brought me into the story. Now I honestly don’t know how I mean anybody who really knows me knows that I love darkness. Wheres the darkness? This is just weird. I like a book that has no darkness.Mr. Hiaasen is not using onomatopoeia. Well atleast that I know of. I mean if recall an onomatopoeia is when the author is doing something like boom, splash, crack, and others. I haven’t seen tons of similes or even some. All though I love what one of main characters whose name is Mickey Cray is trying to tick Gordon who has a gun to his ribs. He wants to trick him to waste all of the bullets. It even says in the book, “ Mickey Cray plan wasn’t complicated:trick Jared Gordon into wasting his last three bullets.” You can find that on page 236.

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  32. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  33. Today I'm still reading "Scat". In this book "Scat" I loving how the author is making me wonder what is happening in this book. Like when something was in the Black Vine Swamp there, in chapter three. The book also said "the firefighter didn't find Mrs. Starch." This part made me want to read on and it just kept getting better from here to me. I also liked how the author made it kind of clearer to me. This book told me what kind of person Mrs. Starch is and what kind of person Nick is. At the beginning of the book it said "Mrs.Starch vanished, her third-period biology students trudged silently, as always" when I read this, this got me thinking man this teacher is strict and might be mean because of how the students walk in all the time. This had also said near the beginning of the book " Marta reach across the aisle, nudged Nick" Marta did this to say thank you to Nick for rising his hand for him, but up to the meanest teacher in school. This book is interesting to me and you might find it as interesting as I did. Please read the book and you just might find it's a really great book.

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  34. What Mr. Hiaasen has done best in the book Scat is grabbing your attention and putting you into the character's shoes.I don’t know if Mr. Hiaasen has done onomatopoeia because I don’t know what that is.Mr. Hiaasen is not using Similes or Metaphors so far that I know.What I Like about Mr. Hiaasen is that he adds lots of details to back up anything that he writes.Mr. Hiaasen puts in lots of Dialog In the book for example: “Yes sir.” “and don’t forget” “I know” Jimmy Lee Baylis said. “Keep a low profile.” “Lower than a rattlesnake’s belly,” Said Drake McBride.From that Dialog I think the techniques that Mr. Hiaasen uses to keep you hooked on to the book is making mysteries and saying commands and making a picture in your mind by all the detail he puts in like “Lower than the rattlesnake’s belly.” I think Mr.Hiaasen is trying to not let you leave the book by not letting you have a blank picture in your mind of what you just read.Mr. Hiaasen also uses another technique to keep you hooked on to the book and that is great word choice For Example: Muttered, Serious, Brave Voice.Mr Hiaasen also uses great word choice to describe what the charecter is doing something and how the charecter says it For Example: “What are you people waiting for” He snapped.

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    1. Daniel,
      I loved your post and what you said about Carl putting us in the character's shoes I thought was right. The part where you said that Carl puts in lots of details I really thought was right. I also liked that you put in a lot of thought into this, I mean when you put those parts you got from the text were great examples of what you were saying. Oh yeah when you said that you don't know what a onomatopoeia is, it shocked me, anyway onomatopoeia is a sound effect, like when you drop something with water inside of it it goes splash. Theres one more thing if you read the first chapter and the very beginning on the book you would have found it said Mrs. Starch unfolded stiffly, like a crane. Can't wait till you write another post.

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  35. I am reading the book “Scat” and I think that the author is great at describing the characters. For example, on page 98 paragraph 6 it says, "The students let out a collective giggle when he turned around to face them. Wendell Waxmo was wearing a faded black tuxedo with a bright yellow tie." The author describes Dr. Wendell Waxmo as a legendary wacko. I think the author is also great at hooking the readers. For example, on page one paragraph one, it says, “The day before Mrs. Starch vanished, her third-period biology students trudged silently, as always, into the classroom.” I think that it really hooks me when it says “...Mrs. Strach vanished…” I predicted right then that this would be an interesting story.

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    1. Dear Briana,
      I did read this post and it was great. When you told us about the part that describe the childeren. I looked into the book where you told us to look only to find that it said "The students let out a collective giggle when he turned around to face them. Wendell Waxmo was wearing a faded black tuxedo with a bright yellow tie." You really put us on the right track when you told me this. I also love all the examples that you gave us. I do agree with you that the author descide the people in the book really great. I could see the image in my mind. I cant wait to hear from you again Briana.

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    2. Hey Briana,
      I loved your post because you really made what you were doing very clear to your readers.Today you made me want to read the book Scat even more than before. When you said "on page 98 paragraph 6 it says, 'The students let out a collective giggle when he turned around to face them. Wendell Waxmo was wearing a faded black tuxedo with a bright yellow tie." I turned the pages in Scat to only find that it said "on, "The students let out a collective giggle when he turned around to face them. Wendell Waxmo was wearing a faded black tuxedo with a bright yellow tie." on page 98 paragraph 6. I just loved it you show what you did, got some words from the book, provide evidences to support your thinking. I loved your post so much because you made it so clear to everyone thank you. With the prediction you made was good, but did you considered anything else like this story might be a boring one because Mrs. Starch vanished and the people trying to find her gave up, what about it really just might be sad because Mrs. Starch could really just be gone when the people looking for her find her somewhere. Theres only one more thing why did you go with the prediction that this would be an interesting story?

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  36. The main character is still Noah and now is part Abby, in the book at the first part of Operation Flush neighbors dog Godzilla has cornered Abby and Noah and Noah made a quick decision, give the dog the green apple and the dog backed off. page 172 from the top.
    “Godzilla cocked its anchor sized head and let out a snort.
    “Its a Granny smith”, I said as if he actually understood. “Go on and try it, it tastes good.
    +++
    “Check out his tail”.
    It was wagging cheerfully.

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  37. Hi Joey, I agree with you, in the book "Scat" I don't think that there was any onomatopoeia in what I have read, or I just don't remember any onomatopoeia. I also agree with you that there is some really good similes, metaphors, and amazing dialog. In "Scat" on page 342 paragraph 9, it says, "Pulling even with a terrified wild panther cub attached like a cactus to his flesh, yowling and spitting in his face." The author was great at describing how the panther cub stuck to him and how horrible that would have been. Plus, the author used a great simile.

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  38. What I really like about Mr. Hiaasen is that he leaves me hanging on a lot of parts. When Nick videotaped the video of what he thought was a panther. It said on page 40 "Your 'panther' is wearing a belt!" I think that it was a person but the author won't tell us yet. He leaves us wanting to read more. I also like that Mr. Hiaasen makes us think about what is going to happen next is the book. When it said on page 75 "But he's hurt." That made me think about how bad was he hurt. It made me think if he lost a leg, or an arm, or even both legs.

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  39. I'm reading the book "Chomp" and I think it is a great book. The author uses great dialogue such as “No way.We’re not gonna spy.”
    “It’s not spying, Lance, it’s observing.”On page 111 This dialogue made me anxious what is about to happen. “Tuna said, “That was seriously rude. He almost peed on our heads!” One page 113. The author also used onomatopoeia like chop. “ Tell them to move me with a room with a Jacuzzi. Chop- chop!” One page 108. The author also uses great words choices like doubtful and harmed. Mrs. Hiaasen did not use any metaphor or simile in the book so far.

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  40. What I really like about Mr. Hiaasen is that he leaves me hanging on a lot of parts. When Nick videotaped the video of what he thought was a panther. It said on page 40 "Your 'panther' is wearing a belt!" I think that it was a person but the author won't tell us yet. He leaves us wanting to read more. I also like that Mr. Hiaasen makes us think about what is going to happen next is the book. When it said on page 75 "But he's hurt." That made me think about how bad was he hurt. It made me think that maybe he lost a leg, or an arm, or even both legs. I also really like how the author describes people. He described Wendell Waxmo as a legendary wacko. It said on page 98 "Wendell Waxmo was a legendary wacko." I liked how he said "legendary". I really liked how Mr. Hiaasen described the new Duane. It said on page 103 "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." Mr. Hiaasen also makes me visualize the story. When he describes the characters and what happens in the story it is almost as I am in Nick's shoes.

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  41. Hey Briana,
    I loved your post because you really made what you were doing very clear to your readers.Today you made me want to read the book Scat even more than before. When you said "on page 98 paragraph 6 it says, 'The students let out a collective giggle when he turned around to face them. Wendell Waxmo was wearing a faded black tuxedo with a bright yellow tie." I turned the pages in Scat to only find that it said "on, "The students let out a collective giggle when he turned around to face them. Wendell Waxmo was wearing a faded black tuxedo with a bright yellow tie." on page 98 paragraph 6. I just loved it you show what you did, got some words from the book, provide evidences to support your thinking. I loved your post so much because you made it so clear to everyone thank you.

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  42. What I really like about Mr. Hiaasen is that he leaves me hanging on a lot of parts. When Nick videotaped the video of what he thought was a panther. It said on page 40 "Your 'panther' is wearing a belt!" I think that it was a person but the author won't tell us yet. He leaves us wanting to read more. I also like that Mr. Hiaasen makes us think about what is going to happen next is the book. When it said on page 75 "But he's hurt." That made me think about how bad was he hurt. It made me think that maybe he lost a leg, or an arm, or even both legs. I also really like how the author describes people. He described Wendell Waxmo as a legendary wacko. It said on page 98 "Wendell Waxmo was a legendary wacko." I liked how he said "legendary". I really liked how Mr. Hiaasen described the new Duane. It said on page 103 "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." Mr. Hiaasen also makes me visualize the story. When he describes the characters and what happens in the story it is almost as I am in Nick's shoes. Carl Hiaasen does a really good job when he writes. He doesn't use onomatopoeia very much, but he still is a very good writer.

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  43. Recently I have been reading the book “Flush”. In this book the author has used many different forms of writing but none of the different writing tools that the post is really asking for like onomatopoeia or simile and metaphors. Mr. Hiaasen has had some of the best character development that I have seen so far like Noah’s dad being named Paine. The reason this is good character development is because he was a real “pain-in-the-butt” according to uncle bobby on page 207. There was also lots of action in this book like Noah running from all of Dusty’s goons and jumping off the boat to avoid them and him jumping on top of abbey to protect her from Luno and his “gun” which turned out to be a flare gun. I think that Noah is a very caring character who really just wants his dad to stay out of jail. I think this because Noah sounds a little bit like a character from “Hoot” named Roy who really just wants the best for the environment and his family. I think that the author should have added a twist were all three of the main characters should meet and talk about what they did to save the environment but in the end they all work together to save the environment from Dusty Muleman and the other people like him.

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  44. Recently I have been reading the book “Flush”. In this book the author has used many different forms of writing but none of the different writing tools that the post is really asking for like onomatopoeia or simile and metaphors. Mr. Hiaasen has had some of the best character development that I have seen so far like Noah’s dad being named Paine. The reason this is good character development is because he was a real “pain-in-the-butt” according to Uncle BoBby on page 207. There was also lots of action in this book like Noah running from all of Dusty’s goons and jumping off the boat to avoid them and him jumping on top of abbey to protect her from luno and his “gun” which turned out to be a flare gun. I think that Noah is a very caring character who really just wants his dad to stay out of jail. I think this because Noah sounds a little bit like a character from “Hoot” named Roy who really just wants the best for the environment and his family. I think that the author should have added a twist were all three of the main characters should meet and talk about what they did to save the environment but in the end they all work together to save the environment from Dusty Muleman and the other people

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