Hoot Study Guide

Chapter 8

Roy sticks to his promise to Beatrice about staying away from Mullet Fingers. It’s easy to do so at first, because the rain continues for three straight days. The bike tire is beyond repair as well, so he has no transportation to follow the running boy anyway. Later, his mother tells him that his bus suspension has been lifted, because it is unfair that he is being punished while Dana is not. Roy figures that tomorrow is as good as any day to face his bully problems.

Curly is being chastised soundly by Chuck Muckle, the Vice-President of Corporate Relations for Mother Paula’s Pancake House. He’s ordered to find attack dogs to guard the construction site and he’s warned that one more incident will lead to his dismissal. So the first thing that Curly does is erect a chain-link fence around the site and then he hires a dog trainer named Kalo to bring in his four Rottweilers named Max, Klaus, Karl, and Pookie Face! Curly leaves feeling comfortable that the site is now protected.

The next morning, Roy walks to the bus stop and notices some ospreys have built a nest at the top of a concrete utility pole. He’s excited to see them, because he had seen them in Montana, too, and didn’t think he’d find them here. He finds it remarkable that the same species of bird can thrive in tow places so far apart and so completely different. It makes him feel like maybe he can do the same thing.

When Roy gets on the bus, all the kids grow quiet as he walks down the aisle. He has a bad feeling about it, but he doesn’t turn around once he finds a seat to see if Dana is behind him. Finally, though, he does turn around and says hi to Dana. Dana’s nose isn’t as bad now as it was, but he has a fat lip from someone popping him in the mouth. Dana threatens Roy, but Roy calmly tells him that the terms in his letter of apology should be the end of their problems. However, Dana doesn’t see it that way, especially since his friends are sitting there watching what he’s going to do. So, Roy tells him to go ahead and hit him and get it out of his system. Dana slaps him around three times and works it so the bus driver sees nothing. It seems like it’s going to get worse when suddenly, Dana sits up and slumps sourly against the bus window. A kid from the last bus stop has bravely chosen to sit right beside him - it’s Beatrice.

Notes

The lifting of the bus suspension foreshadows another showdown for Roy with Dana. However, he is a realist and faces it with a resigned attitude. he doesn’t want to spend the whole school year running and hiding from the bully. The telephone conversation between Curly and the company vice-president is amusing given that the guy who is laying down the law is named Chuck Muckle, and the chastised employee is named Curly and he’s as bald as a cue ball! Also, the names of the Rottweilers are equally as amusing - a vicious attack dog named Pookie Face is a bit unusual! The irony is that the attack dogs will prove to be less than effective.

The ospreys are symbolic of Roy himself - like them, he can find a way to thrive in an environment that is far away and different from his beloved Montana.

It is ironic that Roy is saved once more from Dana’s wrath, this time by someone he had also feared - Beatrice.