Flush

Another strong enviro-novel by Hiaasen. Great family entertainment in the style of HOOT. Hiaasen shines a light on the greedy who would thoughtlessly destroy our environment for the sake of profit. Adults and children alike can do something to help. Great character development and sub-plots. Hopefully, as was done with HOOT, a feature film will be made from this one.

I purchased this for a family road trip, after we had listened to Hoot. We all very much enjoyed it. Very good story, fun and entertaining. I have 2 boys 12 and 14 and we enjoyed this as much as we enjoyd Hoot, I would highly recommend both books. Some simularlities with both books, but not enough to ruin one or the other.

What an enjoyable book. The children are thrill with this book. Truly a book for all children to enjoy. Please purchase this one!

Before this book, I hadn't read anything by Carl Hiaasen, though I have heard a lot about him because of Hoot's success. Without even reading the summary, I knew that this novel would probably take on some sort of environmental issue, but I didn't expect it to be so good. This is a book I would have loved as a kid, and is still a good read as an adult. It has a lot of action, intrigue, and great characters.

I really liked the relationship between Noah and his little sister Abbey. Their interactions were realistic and Abbey added a humorous element to the story, which I appreciated. I also liked how Abbey is portrayed as a stronger personality than Noah, even though she's his little sister. I'm a sucker for strong female characters, and Hiaasen definitely includes them in this novel.

The story itself is awesome. To clear their father's good name, Noah and Abbey take it upon themselves to prove that the Coral Queen is dumping raw sewage into the harbor and enlist the help of a couple of others. Some plot twists were predictable, but there were a few surprises Hiaasen threw in that completely shocked me.

Michael Welch's narration was perfect. I love listening to audiobooks when it's told in first person, because it gives an heightened sense of simply being told a story. It's even better when the narrator is able to capture the main character's personality and add some quirks, which is exactly what Michael Welch does.

Overall, this story is enjoyable, full of surprises, and carries a good message. It's about kids taking matters into their own hands and helping to right wrongs. With humor and adventure, Flush is great for kids and adults alike.

This book appears to be aimed at the "tween" and early teen reader. As such, it wasn't as enjoyable as many of the author's other books.

Gift

This book was slow and predictable.

I'm an old coot (75) and I enjoyed Hiassen's humor in this tale. I think reviews pointed this out and I took a chance. I was pleasantly surprised.

As a teacher of Ecology and Environmental science, I found this a raucous adventure of an overzealous parent and their sympathetic kids in their fight against local polluters. It held my interest beginning to end. This was classic Hiassen, with a touch of politics, a lot of environmental issues, and a good serving of humor.