by Amy Cox Williams

Carl Hiaasen returns with a new adventure for his middle-grade fans. Scat follows the author’s time- (and kid-) tested formula: Florida plus environmental issues plus greed and corruption plus clever young heroes plus humor equals a fresh, engaging, and twisted mystery that will not disappoint readers young and old alike. We caught up with Hiaasen for the following Q&A:

Your third novel for young readers, Scat, is due out this winter. I assume you’re enjoying writing for this audience…
Yes, kids are by far the most enthusiastic book audience--and they love irreverent humor.

Your adult fiction is definitely not crossover material. How do you approach writing for middle graders without writing down to them?
I have a great editor, Nancy Siscoe, who catches me if I ever start consciously easing off for young readers.
Nothing turns off a kid from a book faster than if he or she starts to think the author is holding back because he thinks they’re too young.

When writing the characters of Roy, Noah, and Nick, do you find yourself looking back to your own childhood for material and to capture an authentic voice?
I wouldn’t have been able to write any of those characters if they didn’t echo from my own childhood, and from my own experiences. I was lucky to grow up in Florida before they paved over most of it, so I have some great memories of exploring wild places.

Hoot, Flush, and now Scat have all had an environmental awareness message--something most of us know will be more important than ever for younger generations to grasp. From your vantage point, what are the reactions of your young fans to these issues?
Young readers today are so much more sophisticated--and passionate--about the environment than my generation was.  In almost every letter I get from kids--and I get plenty--they talk about how important it is to quit trashing the planet. They get very attached to characters like Mullet Fingers in Hoot, and Noah and his sister in Flush, who are out there taking the fight to the bad guys. 

In Scat, Nick’s dad is a National Guard officer deployed in Iraq who returns wounded. Tell us about your decision to incorporate this plotline into the story.
This war has been going on for five years, and it has affected thousands and thousands of families who have either lost a soldier, or had one come home badly injured. It’s hard to write an honest contemporary novel that overlooks one of the longest military struggles in American history, and its impact on the kids whose fathers and mothers are over there serving. 

When you’re not busy writing, do you read the work of any of your fellow YA writers?
I take a look at most of the books my youngest son is reading--he’s only eight, but he reads YA novels (including mine). Unfortunately, I’m working on my own books and columns almost all the time, so I don’t get to read for pleasure nearly as much as I wish. And when I do, it’s usually adult novels or nonfiction.

What’s next? More YA?
I go on tour for Scat in January--only a writer would leave Florida in the dead of winter to go sell books.  I’ve also started a new novel for grownups, so that should occupy all my waking hours for at least a year or so. After that, I’ll probably do another YA novel. It’s hard to stop, especially because the kids are such loyal readers. And, as I said, the letters are just amazing.