Flush by Carl Hiaasen
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Published in 2005
Recommended Age Group: 12 and Up
Summary: Flush begins with Noah Underwood going to see his father Paine on Father’s Day. His Dad is in jail for sinking the Coral Queen a gambling boat that has been dumping it’s waste into the water. This is a big problem because it would wash up on a popular beach and people and animals get sick from swimming in it. Paine said he’d tried to notify the Coast Guard and other people to tell them what was going on but Dusty Muleman, the owner, always seemed to know when they were coming and would dump the waste just like he was supposed to. Paine asks Noah to help him which he son readily agrees to in spite of some misgivings he had about the whole thing. Noah believes his Dad is a good person but his brain just shuts off when he’s upset about someone hurting the environment. Noah decides to find a legal way to catch Dusty in the act and stop him from dumping the Coral Queen’s waste into the ocean. With the help of his little sister Abbey and Shelly, Dusty former fiancée and a bartender on the boat, they fill the holding tanks with fuchsia food coloring so when Dusty dumps later a long stripe of evidence leads straight back to the Coral Queen. After a couple more surprises and a few unexpected along the way Dusty gets what he deserves and the water is safe for swimming.
Personal Notes: The first thing that drew my attention to this book was the fish and the toilet seat on the cover. It was just as interesting as the cover. I especially liked how Noah found legal ways of solving his problems and didn’t resort to vandalism like his father. I think it teaches people to use their brains to reach their goals and to stop things they don’t like. Hiaasen didn’t ever really tell us how old Noah was and that bothered me for some reason. It was my goal through the book to find this kids age. At one point we find out that his Grandpa left when he was two or three and returned ten years later and that he is three years older than his sister who passed fourth grade so I guess that’s close enough for me. Overall it was a fun read and a great adventure.
If you liked Flush, you’ll probably also like Hoot. It’s by the same author. I read it this summer and loved it! A few other recent reads…Chasing Vermeer and Blue Jasmine – fantastic use of metaphors in the latter and a great mystery that brings in elements of art history in Chasing Vermeer. Enjoy!
Oh, and one more…The Invention of Hugo Cabret! I read this to my sixth graders last year and they loved it! It has over 200 pages of pictures that are absolutely fantastic.
this is the best book esver i read it last year in sixth grade and it was so cool
i have a book report due on this book in 2 days and im only on page 74 out of 263. Any advice?
Well, you’re a little over a third through and it gets better as you read so I’d just hurry and finish. It’s a great book and there are a lot of different angles you could take for the book report. I especially liked how Noah used his brains to solve problems and didn’t fight or try to scare people into doing what he wanted. He also made sure to do things the legal way to try and be better than his dad. I read it in about a day so you should have plenty of time even with other homework.
Thanks for visiting and I hope this helps.
i liked this book alot and i think you will like it to.
ermmm yea it was a great book it was very realistic i had to do it this summer and yea i read it in like 3 days because i had lots of math but yea. Carl Hiaasen is a very artistic author!!
this helps a lot with my project on flush. =) (i didnt read it) o.O
i need help i have a book report due tommorow and on page 41 i need help any one now the main charecters setting problem rising action falling action and reaslotion?
Waz up this book is awesome
what happpens in the end of this story?
I want to know if NOah’s dad dumped the waste, or the toher guy.
I got this book for Christmas last year and once I started, I couldn’t put it down. Noah’s dad is sooooooooo awesome! I wish I had a dad like that. All Environment friendly. I love how the grandpa comes back.
I love flush!! i did a book report on it!!! i love it.
. i would encourge you too read it.