I've never actually read it but I think that it will be good. My best friend read it and said it was awesome, so I'm going to give it a try.

Life for 12-year old Noah gets complicated when his dad is arrested for environmental activism/property damage. And when a local high-roller both denies and continues illegal sewage dumping, Noah takes things into his own hands.
This was a very funny story, with Hiaasen's usual cast of strange characters, but Noah's relationship with his little sister Abbey, and with his parents is delightful and believable. Again, typical of Hiaasen, the Florida landscape is a major character in the story, I could feel things brushing against my legs in the might swims!
I'd give this to younger teens looking for adventure stories, or for funny stories, as it has both in equal measure. ( )

Richie's Picks: FLUSH by Carl Hiaasen, Random House/Knopf, September 2005, ISBN: 0-375-82182-1; Lib ISBN: 0-375-92182-6

On May 4, 2002 I wrote about Carl Hiaasen's first children's book, HOOT:

"Carl Hiaasen does an incredible job of showing the different styles of activism that different people resort to. He presents the reader with the contemporary clash of free enterprise versus global ecological issues. He has a lot to say between the lines about parenting, and he has some great insights into the methods of dealing with bullies.

"I've never read his adult books, but I sure hope Hiaasen writes more books for kids. HOOT is one heck of a first step into the world of children's literature."

So I was, of course, ecstatic that both the 2003 Newbery committee and 2003 Best Books for Young Adults committee recognized HOOT.

I was somewhat less thrilled about having to wait three long years for the pleasure of reading a second children's book by Hiaasen. And while FLUSH is a completely different story, everything that delighted me three years ago about reading HOOT is equally applicable to FLUSH.

"The deputy told me to empty my pockets: two quarters, a penny, a stick of bubble gum, and a roll of grip tape for my skateboard. It was pitiful.
" 'Go on inside. He's waiting for you,' the deputy said.
"My dad was sitting alone at a bare metal table. He looked pretty good, all things considered. He wasn't even handcuffed.
" 'Happy Father's Day,' I said.
"He stood up and gave me a hug. 'Thanks, Noah,' he said."

So begins FLUSH, the story of what happens after Paine Underwood pulls the plug on the Coral Queen and willingly gets arrested for doing so.

The Coral Queen is a three-tiered casino boat owned by Dusty Muleman. Dusty has been making a killing off of the boat's operations because he worked a deal with the local Native Americans to park the boat in a marina on their lands, give them a cut of the take and, thus, avoid having to take the customers a few miles offshore to gamble like all the other casino boat operators are required to do. What Noah's dad is so hot about is that he is sure that the raw sewage periodically washing up on Thunder Beach is the result of the Coral Queen's holding tanks being emptied illegally into the water.

A 60 Minutes piece about the author that was broadcast last month, "Florida: 'A Paradise of Scandals' "http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/04/15/60minutes/main688458.shtml, introduces Hiaasen:

"In a little less than a century, the state of Florida has been transformed from a largely uninhabited swamp to the fourth-largest state in the union. And no one has written about that transformation more successfully than Carl Hiaasen.

"Part humorist, part muckraker, his satirical novels about greed, crime and corruption in the Sunshine State have become fixtures on the best-seller list and embraced by influential literary critics who compare him to Mark Twain and H.L. Mencken.

"He is also an award-winning children’s author and a former investigative reporter-turned-columnist for the Miami Herald.

"And he has made a career of documenting, analyzing and interpreting what may be the most bizarre state in the union -- and one, Hiaasen says, is 'a victim of its own geography.' "

In the 60 Minutes interview Hiaasen talked about how being out on the water in his skiff is like church for him. In that regard, reading FLUSH feels like you are peering in even closer at the heart of Carl Hiaasen.

When I discussed HOOT three years ago, I mentioned that it contained humor, a bit of sadness, and a touch of suspense. All three qualities are once again present in FLUSH. So are the wildly quirky characters, from the bully (Jasper Muleman Jr.), to the brute (Luno), to the buxom blonde (Shelly), the bum (Lice Peeking), the bumbling attorney (Mr. Shine), and the mysterious pirate.

Carl Hiaasen is a master at storytelling. That he has utilized his superb talents to once again write a satirical novel about greed, crime and corruption in the Sunshine State for children (and me) is cause for celebration.

Thanks, Carl!

Richie Partington
http://richiespicks.com
BudNotBuddy@aol.com ( )

For do-gooders and tree-huggers young and old, Flush is a great story about one family's quest to clean up the waters of their beloved Florida Keys. They battle a corrupt casino-boat captain in order to stop human waste from polluting the shoreline, in addition to battling corrupt cops, Coast Guard officers, henchmen and kids. The dialogue is witty and real, and the characters are believable. The conflict is one that happens all too often, and its nice to see someone fighting it for a change. Though Noah and his sister are but children, they're both mature and engaging, with true flaws. This is a terrific story for anyone: activist, polluter, child, adult, swimmer or landlubber...anyone. ( )

Another of Hiaasen's YA books, the theme for this one (like HOOT) is Florida and saving wildlife and the environment. Noah Underwood's father is in jail...again. He's not a bad guy, he just has "principles." He KNOWS that the scumbag owner of a gambling boat dumps raw sewage into the water (instead of the holding tanks they're supposed to use) so he...well, he sinks the boat. Determined to get the public aware and on his side, Mr. Underwood conducts a media campaign from his jail cell. Noah, determined to help his father get the proof he needs, contacts "Lice" (so-named for obvious reasons!) Peking, a former employee of the casino owner--who subsequently goes missing after agreeing to help them. But the Underwoods don't give up that easily, although MRS. Underwood wishes they would, and their marriage is hanging by a precarious thread, much to Noah's dismay.

Chock full of Hiaasen's usual quirky characters (including Noah's sister Abby) and environmental themes, this book wasn't as good as Hoot but was still a great listen,with some laugh out loud moments as well as serious issues dealt with, and I have put more of Hiaasen's work on my library download list. ( )