Scat - Carl Hiaasen

Mrs Starch is the scariest teacher in Truman High School and Duane "Smoke" Scrod Jr is one of the most formidable students. Little does Nick realise that when he witnesses an encounter between the two of them that it will set in place a chain of events that will involve him, Mrs Starch the mysterious Twilly Spree and a panther cub.
Carl Hiassen's books always seems to seethe with anger about the stupidness of people and the unthinking (or sometimes thinking) cruelty to animals and the planet we are all living in and Scat is no different. However he also infuses his books with hope - that for every selfish eejit there is more people who care and who are prepared to help each other and others. Nick is a brilliant example of that, a ordinary boy who just happens to have it in his power to save an noble animal. Very enjoyable book

"The day before Mrs Starch vanished, her biology students trudged silently, as always, in the classroom. Their expressions reflected the usual mix of dread and melancholy, for Mrs Starch was the most feared teacher at the Truman School.
When the bell rang, she unfolded stiffly, like a crane, and rose to her full height of nearly six feet. In one hand she twirled a sharpened pencil, a sure sign of trouble to come."

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