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I'd like to tell Mr. W. that the computer didn't get my first update. I hope this one stays here!)pg. 12
pg. 23
6:00pm
6:20pm
11 pages
20 minutes
The last thing that happened was that Smoke ate a pencil when he was assigned an essay. The head of school decides to talk with Smoke's parent. He has two parents, but he wants to talk to the father. Meanwhile, preparations for a field trip are being made. Mister Dresler, the head of school, checks Smoke's file and discovers that he had a rough past time. When Mr. Dresler visits Smoke's father, Dwayne Scrod Senior, he has a shakey little chat, and is told that Smoke has eaten worse before. Oh yeah - there's also a parrot that belongs to Smoke's father! I predict that this post will actually make it on Goodreads, and that we will find out more about the field trip in the story.
pg. 24pg. 36
5:30pm
6:00pm
12 pages
30 minutes
Smoke is absent from school, which is OK with everyone else because he's kind of scary. The day he's absent is the day of the field trip to the swamp. Everybody has a lot of encounters with the local wildlife, but something strange happens. Mrs. Starch goes into the swamp alone to probably look for something - maybe an inhaler. I predict that she'll get lost in the swamp and Nick and Marta will try and find her.
pg. 37pg. 48
5:30pm
5:57pm
11 pages
17 minutes
Mrs. Starch has not been found since she went into the swamp. When Nick looks over the camera tape (which is the video that he took) with his mother, he sees a couple of strange things in the video. One of them is something that looks like a panther with no tail and it's wearing a belt. Meanwhile, a girl named Libby Marshall, talks to a detective with her father about the fire (yeah, there was a fire) in the swamp. And, about Mrs. Starch - she was looking for Libby's inhaler and somewhere else, Libby's dog shows up with her inhaler. I predict that Nick and Marta will try and find out more about Mrs. Starch's disappearance.
pg. 49pg. 63
5:30pm
6:01pm
14 pages
31 minutes
It turns out that the panther with the belt was actually a human! Meanwhile, at the school, Smoke is suspected of the arson and several deputies come in for questioning. Smoke isn't there, however. There's a small assembly and Nick talks to one of the visiting deputies who asks him questions about Smoke. I predict that Smoke has not done the crime and that he will come back to school with that essay about the pimple (that I mentioned earlier!)
Pg. 64Pg. 75
1:00pm
1:20pm
11 pages
20 minutes
Nobody has heard from either Smoke or Mrs. Starch. Mr. Dresler goes to visit Mrs. Starch's house, and her answering machine says that she has a family emergency. This make him suspicious because she doesn't have a family of her own. Oh yeah, and we see a stuffed rat on a rocking chair. Meanwhile, Nick and Marta come home and find out their father has suffered an injury while he was fighting in Iraq. I predict we will discover what will happen with Nick's father, Mrs. Starch, AND Smoke!
pg. 76pg. 90
5:00pm
5:21pm
14 pages
21 minutes
Mrs. Millicent Winship, Smoke's grandmother, goes to his house and talks to Dwayne Scrod Senior about Smoke's whereabouts. Nick goes to visit his father in the hospital and finds out that he lost his arm. From this point on Nick is making some big changes to his lifestyle. Mr. Dresler goes to Mrs. Starch's house with a detective and notices that the stuffed rat has disappeared. They also talk a little bit about Smoke. I predict that Nick will alter how he handles things.
pg. 91pg. 103
5:00pm
5:20pm
12 pages
20 minutes
In this chapter, two men - Drake McBride and Jimmy Lee Bayliss - arrive at the swamp via helicopter and talk about future drilling for their oil company of which Drake McBride is the president. But, it's illegal in a protected area. Nick has decided to go left-handed by putting his right arm in an ace bandage and using his left arm for everything. The substitute filling in for Mrs. Starch is very wacko (Dr. Wendell Waxmo). Class goes as normally as it can with a wacko substitute, until a very clean spotless student walks into the classroom. It turns out to be Smoke. I predict that the teacher will have some sort of reaction to this.
pg. 104pg. 118
3:40pm
4:00pm
14 pages
20 minutes
Smoke comes back to school completely and totally transformed. Dr. Wendell Waxmo is given the pimple essay (yeah, he wrote it!) but he rejects it. Meanwhile, Smoke talks to a detective and Mr. Dressler about the disappearance of Mrs. Starch. While this is happening, Nick is having a hard time trying to become a leftie and his father is still in the hospital. He's recovering from the loss of his arm. Marta and Nick are suspicious about whether Mrs. Starch really disappeared, or whether she was just off somewhere else. Also, Nick is interested in the happenings in the swamp. In the next chapter, I predict we will join Jimmy Lee Bayliss and Drake McBride back in the swamp, and learn more about their secret operation.
pg. 119pg. 134
6:00pm
6:20pm
15 pages
20 minutes
In the swamp, the next happening is an odd one. Jimmy Lee Bayliss brings a worker - named Melton, although he's not too important! - that he rescued after being glued naked to a cypress tree. The strange person who did this is unknown. Back at Smoke's house, Dwayne Scrodd Jr., Millicent Winshop and Smoke himself discuss face-to-face whether he actually started the fire. He claims he didn't. As for Nick and Marta, they ask Marta's mother to drop them off at the mall, but they head to Mrs. Starch's house, which is some distance away instead to find some "evidence". I predict that they will find something in the house.
pg. 135pg. 147
3:oo
3:21
13 pages
21 minutes
Nick and Marta have snuck into Mrs. Starch's house to try and find anything that might suggest Mrs. Starch's whereabouts. They are greeted by lots of taxidermy endangered animals. Then, someone else comes into Mrs. Starch's house and finds them hiding in a box-trunk. It turns out that the strange man who found them - Twilly - was probably checking on the house. After he gets them into his car and drives them back to the mall, they go back home. I predict that we will find out more about Twilly.
pg. 148pg. 157
4:00pm
4:22pm
11 pages
22 minutes
Drake McBride and Jimmy Lee Bayliss are still in the swamp, and Jimmy Lee Bayliss is mentioning about the quality of the oil. During this secret oil-drilling procedure some investigators come in and ask about the fire. The purpose of the fire - which Jimmy Lee Bayliss started with little or no evidence - was to make a small controlled fire to ward off the kids so they wouldn't discover any drilling equipment. After the investigators showed Jimmy Lee a picture of Smoke, he claims to have seen him. I predict that he has not seen him.
pg. 158pg. 173
4:30pm
4:50pm
15 pages
20 minutes
After meeting Twilly, Nick is so preoccupied that he's unable to focus on his schoolwork. So, when the teacher asks him to hum a swell tune (see, Dr. Wendell Waxmo IS a wackjob!), he doesn't and he has to focus on his work next. Then, we find out more about Twilly, his origins, etc. After being sent to the principal's office for refusing the teacher, Nick tells Mr. Dressler that he's training to be left-handed. But Mr. Dressler also gives Nick supposed mail from Mrs. Starch. He decides not to mention Twilly. At dismissal he goes home, frankly kind of worried. I predict that we will find out the cause of Nick's worry.
This book was good. It was the first Carl Hiaasen book I read, so I was really impressed. I think this one was a little better that Chomp.
3:30pm
pg 1
pg 11
30 minutes
11 pages
The story begins with the three main characters, Mick, Marta and Smoke, in biology class, of which teacher, Mrs. Starch, is rather harsh. During this class she is talking about the "calvin cycle" and calls on Smoke. He is messing around with a zit he has on his neck, and Mrs. Starch calls him up to her desk and tells him to write a 500-word essay on pimples! So, Smoke says, "I guess" and eats her pencil. I predict that he will get in trouble!