86 pages • 2 hours read
Carl HiaasenA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Nick and Marta sneak into Mrs. Starch’s home. At first, the house, with its abundant taxidermy collection, is simply terrifying, but as Nick and Marta discover the point of the collection, it becomes touching and, in its own way, tragic: “‘They’re all endangered species […] That’s a panther cub, that’s a Cape Sable seaside sparrow, and that ugly thing on the wall is a shortnose sturgeon’” (137). Mrs. Starch’s “zoo for the dead” (136) is a testament to the wildlife that humans have driven off the planet.
Twilly Spree, a character from one of Hiaasen’s earlier novels, Sick Puppy, shows up at Mrs. Starch’s house, driving her car and looking for a book by Edward Abbey. Twilly Spree appears threatening—he is muddy, roughlooking and rude—but he doesn’t harm Nick and Marta. As Twilly drops them off back in town, Nick notices that he is wearing an old-fashioned ammo belt like the creature in his video.
Plus, gain access to 8,650+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features:
By Carl Hiaasen