I bought this paperback used at least 10 years ago because it had owls in it. With the library closed, I am finally chipping away at some of the novels in my eternal to-read pile! This was quick and fun, if a bit predicable. One day Roy sees a barefoot boy running across a series of lawn as the school bus pulls away from the curb in his Florida town. Curious, Roy tries to figure out who he is and what he was doing. It turns out this mysterious runaway is trying to defend the burrowing owls who live on a plot of land slatted for development into a Miss Paula's Pancake House. Very much in the tone of Holes, though without the intergenerational curse. A good book for a young reader.