SCAT

Scat, Carl Hiassen, Orion

When Nick and Marta's terrifying science teacher Mrs Starch goes missing on a school excursion to the swamp, rumours about the disappearance are flying about school. Was she disposed of by angry student Duane Scrog, who has been known to eat entire pencils and once gnawed off a bit of his PE teacher's finger?

or perhaps she was eaten by a bear?

What follows is a twisty, fast paced plot complete with multilingual macaws, wonderfully eccentric characters and a setting evoked so vividly that once I finished this I spent the remaining afternoon researching Florida panthers and swamps in general.

I thoroughly enjoyed this, highly recommended.

--clare--