Review – Flush by Carl Hiaasen (4/5 stars)

Reading level: Young Adult/Middle Grade
Genre: General Fiction/Environmentalism
Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Yearling
Release Date:  May 11th, 2010
ISBN-13: 978-0375861253
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Swapped through paperbackswap.com
Rating: 4/5 stars

I read Hoot by Hiaasen and absolutely loved it, so I was excited to continue on with Hiaasen’s middle grade series and read this book.  I didn’t like Flush quite as much as Hoot, there just wasn’t as much mystery.  That being said it was still a very good and entertaining book; it touches heavily on environmentalism, corrupt business practice, and family issues.

Noah Underwood’s father has sunk a gambling ship and been thrown in jail.  Noah’s dad is positive that the gambling ship is emptying sewage into the ocean.   It is up to Noah and his sister Abbey, to prove their father’s allegations, to help get him out of jail.  With Noah’s dad’s history of taking extreme action against people who commit environmental crimes, things are also becoming stressful on Noah’s parents’ marriage.  Now it isn’t only getting his dad out of jail that is the problem, but trying to keep his parents together.  Noah and Abbey set a trap to catch the owner of the gambling ship in the act, but they are in more danger than they originally thought.

This was a well done book; it is well-written, easy to read, and moves along at a good clip.  I love how Noah’s family deals with things and how the theme of environmentalism dominates the story.  I think people of all ages can enjoy this book.  It is witty and well thought out.

Noah learns a lot about corruption and environmentalism throughout the book.  Some of the crazy characters involved keep the book fun.  It was never boring and never slowed down.  As I mentioned, I did enjoy Hoot a bit more.  Hoot had a lot more mystery to it and was more suspenseful than Flush.

Overall, another great eco-thriller from Hiaasen.  I am looking forward to reading Scat too.  Everyone will find something to love in this book it is engaging, discusses some good issues, and is very entertaining.  Appropriate for all ages; although younger kids will have trouble grasping the complexity of the corrupted business practices that are discussed.

This book went towards the following reading challenges:
– The Young Adult Reading Challenge
– The 100+ Book Reading Challenge