Flush

Hiaasen, Carl. (2005). Flush. New York: Alfred A. Knopf

Plot Summary: The novel opens with Noah going to visit his father in jail. His father, a fishing boat guide who is now forced to drive a cab because the Coast Guard took away his captain’s license, is being charged with sinking a local gambling boat. Noah’s father admits to doing this because he knows that the owner of the boat is dumping the sewage hold straight into the marina water instead of into sewage tanks on land. The only problem is, Noah’s dad has little proof, other than his personal belief.

From this point forward we follow Noah and his younger sister Abbey as they try and provide the proof that Dusty Muleman, the gambling boats owner, is really dumping his waste into the waters off the coast of Florida. Noah and Abbey have little trouble finding the proof, but getting the right people to believe them is another whole problem. All along the way Noah has to look out for his dad who tends to get a tad dramatic and worked up at the worst possible times.

Lucky for Noah, he finds an ally in one of Dusty’s ex-wives who agrees to help them out in their plan to catch Dusty’s crew in the act of dumping the holding tanks into the water in the middle of the night. The plan develops and is put into action with Shelly, Dusty’s ex-wife, and Noah emptying 34 bottles of fuchsia colored dye into the ships holding tank! “All you have to do is flush!”

Things get a little hairy when Noah’s get away plan goes sour when Abbey can’t get the motor started on the borrowed/stolen dinghy. Then the motor goes out completely leaving Noah and Abbey drifting off the coast of Florida with no way of getting ashore and nobody to know where they are.

In the end there plan works with a little help from their long lost grandfather and an anonymous tip to the Coast Guard.

Genre: humor-fiction; environmental-fiction

Suggested Age Range: 9-12 years

Subjects/themes: environment; Florida; fishing

Awards:

• · ALA Notable Children's Books: 2006,

• · ALA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers: 2006,

• · Best Fiction for Young Adults: 2006,

• · Colorado: Blue Spruce Award Nominees: 2009,

• · Colorado: Children's Book Award Nominees: 2007,

• · Florida: Sunshine State Young Reader Award Nominee: 2007,

• · Georgia: Children's Book Award Nominees: 2008,

• · Georgia: Children's Book Award Winners: 2008,

• · Hawaii: Nene Award Nominees: 2007,

• · Indiana: Young Hoosier Award Nominees: 2008,

• · Kentucky: Bluegrass Award Nominees: 2007,

• · Louisiana: Young Readers' Choice Award Nominees: 2008,

• · Minnesota: Maud Hart Lovelace Award Nominees: 2009,

• · Nebraska: Golden Sower Award Nominees: 2008,

• · NY Times Notable Children's Books: 2005,

• · Oklahoma: Sequoyah Award Nominees: 2008,

• · Pacific Northwest Young Reader's Award Nominees: 2008,

• · Texas: Lone Star Reading List: 2007

Reviews:

• · Horn Book starred 1/4/2006

• · Kirkus starred 1/8/2005

Character List:

• · Noah- teenage boy whose father is thrown in jail for sinking a gambling boat thus leading to his masterminding the Operation Royal Flush plan to prove that his father isn’t lying.

• · Abbey- Noah’s little sister who, although younger than Noah, spends just as much time working on getting his father out of jail. She also is a notorious biter which plays a large role in more than one escape.

• · Paine- Noah and Abbey’s Dad, yes the one that gets put in jail for sinking the boat way at the beginning of the book. He has a little bit of an anger issue.

• · Mom- Noah and Abbey’s Mom who has a tendency to get fed-up with their fathers actions and threaten to leave him more than once.

• · Shelly- Dusty’s ex-wife and now Lice Peeking’s girlfriend. She has a barbed wire tattoo and an amazing ability to tell when somebody is lying to her.

• · Dusty Muleman- Owner of the Coral Queen gambling boat which is the boat in mention that was sunk at the beginning of the book and is also emptying it’s sewage into the water. He is also the father of Jasper Jr.

• · Jasper Jr- The bratty son of Dusty Muleman. Jasper punches Noah more than once in the book.

• · Bull- Jasper Jr.’s sidekick. His real name isn’t Bull but everybody calls him that seeing as he rarely tells the truth.

• · Lice Peeking- Shelly’s boyfriend and one of the only people who can testify against Dusty about dumping waste into the water because he use to work for Dusty. He runs away out of fear early in the book, but returns later.

• · Luno- Dusty’s bodyguard/head of security. Big, bald, mean guy that more than once gets out tricked by Noah and Abbey.

• · Grandpa Bobby- Paine’s father and Noah and Abbey’s grandpa who is believed to have been killed in South America, but not really because he shows up and helps Noah and Abbey out only they don’t know that it is their grandpa until later.

High-interest Annotation: Humorous all along the way this is a great read to bring awareness to nature. The outrageous ideas as well as characters make a delightful read and help bring imaginations alive. The lessons learned in the end are perfect and ones that anybody who has been bullied or noticed injustices in the world will understand.