Tonight I finished reading another book in my Newbery Challenge.

It has been little while since I wrote Newbery Challenge Update and Newbery Challenge Update II, so I will also give a little update as to where I am in the challenge.

The book that I just finished is Hoot by Carl Hiaasen. The book was an honor book in 2003.

I really enjoyed reading this book as it followed the adventures of a group of kids who were trying to save a group of burrowing owls.

The story was set in Florida, so the owls were Florida burrowing owls (Athene cunicularia floridana).

I have pictures that I took of another sub-species. The Western burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia hypugaea) is seen here in California.

I used the picture above in a post that I wrote two years ago titled: Owls

The habitat for the burrowing owl in Florida would be similar though. They are commonly seen in hay fields and can be difficult to spot. Can you see the owl in the picture above? You may not see it at a glance.

I took these pictures while out for a walk one evening. I just happened to walk by this owl while it was standing on the fence. I carefully maneuvered my camera to where I could take a picture while trying not to startle the owl.

The kids in the book were trying to save the owls from a construction site. A pancake house was to be built where their habitat was.

There are many twists and turns to the story and I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book.

The story touches on many different themes including environmentalism, teamwork, friendship, being a new kid at school and parental relationships.

I have really enjoyed reading the books that have won Newbery awards.

I have made a big push at the end of the year and have now read 247 of the 397 books or about 62%. This leaves me with only 150 left to read. Still a long way to go. Especially as more than 100 of them will have to be requested through inter-library loan.

However, a lot of the remaining ones are the older ones that are predominantly Historical Fiction or Biography. Just the way I like them.

It will be interesting to see where I am a year from now with this challenge.

Steven