Take a story's temperature by studying its tone. Is it hopeful? Cynical? Snarky? Playful?
Matter-of-Fact, Judgmental, and Informative
Hiaasen's tone is generally matter-of-fact. This book is a straight-forward adventure without much to interpret. Take Mickey's snide comments for example:
"What a poser," Mickey said.
"Chill out, Pop."
"Don't we have some fire ants?"
"That's enough." (5.28-31)
Whenever Derek is around, or when Raven recalls some of Derek's foolish stunts, the tone turns pretty judgmental. There is no room for us to like Derek or to think what he does to innocent animals for the sake of fame and fortune is okay by any means. Hiaasen wants us to root for the environment and natural wildness over Derek's selfish, human motives.
The negative tone describing Derek doing his famous wild animal feast scene is a good example. This is also a good example of how the tone is understanding of the bat and judgmental of Derek:
The mastiff bat that Derek Badger slowly lowered toward his gaping maw wasn't vicious. She simply didn't want to be eaten. (15.80)
An example of Hiaasen's informative tone comes right before the bat-eating moment. This is a tone that he uses to provide us with useful information that helps us understand why certain things happen in the book:
The Florida mastiff bat is the largest in the southeastern United States. […] Like other nocturnal animals, the mastiff is extremely sensitive to light. (15.67, 70)