Scat by Carl Hiaasen

Nick and Marta are friends who attend a private school in Florida. When a field trip to a local swamp gets cut short because of a fire, their biology teacher disappears. Mysterious sitings of the teacher's blue Prius pique the students interest and they start investigating her what happened. All the while, Nick is worried about his father who is stationed in Iraq with his National Guard unit. As the students' learn more about what happened to their teacher, they get involved with an effort to save an endangered panther cub by reuniting it with its mother. Interesting characters, quirky side plots and a good story all combine to make this a great read. The audiobook version is narrated by Ed Asner, who had fun with the characters. Scat by Carl Hiaasen. Random House/Listening Library 2009.