Flush

By Carl Hiaasen

This is the book that I have chosen to read for the first project for middle school. I enjoyed reading this book and learning about the different characters and their challenges. I hope you enjoy my first project of the year.

The main character in this book is Noah and Abby Underwood. They are two siblings living in the Florida Keys.  They live a normal life as kids, but their father has a mind of his own. Paine, the kids father wants to make all of the world right side up, whenever he see’s something wrong, he tries to make it right, whatever it takes. Even if it means sinking a casino boat. When he catches  Dusty Muleman (the owner of a casino boat), illegally dumping into the Keys main bay, he can’t help but get involved. But the problem is, he can’t catch Dusty’s act on camera. The people thinks its all in his mind. Now all eyes are on their family, because of the disaster their father has created.

Once the whole town has learned about Paine’s sinking, everything goes downhill. Paine is reckon to go to jail. With their father in jail and there mom to upset to think about what’s going on, life’s taking a big turn. A quote to back up my thinking is “My mother says that being married to my father is like having another child to watch after, one who’s too big and unpredictable to put in time-out.” I think this is one of the many events that change the direction of the story because Noah and Abby have to now deal with not seeing their dad everyday and having to deal with the consequences that come with that. Paine not being able to work which causes the family to run low on money, which leads to having a hard time paying for food and school, etc. since Paine’s the only one who works in the family. Also Paine is struggling to find a way out of the mess he has created and to get back to his family, but also proving himself right.  One big choice Noah and his dad have to make while he’s in jail is for someone to help them back up this story, to get him out of jail. A old friend Charles Peeking (known as Lice Peeking) has seen the illegal dumping with his own very eyes, but won’t do anything, unless it involves something for him, or money in that case. Paine has to make a big decision on what he can give away that is worth what Lice wants. Since he can’t give money because they aren’t doing as well as they used to. Paine decides on his boat. I think this a big decision because this is Paines prized possession and used to use it every day until his captain’s license got taken away after he had sunk the boat. I think this must have been a very hard decision to give away the boat because the family loves the boat but also I thinks its the best choice to get Lice on their side. A quote to back up my thinking is “Dad, how are we going to pay…(dad takes over) When we’re flat broke, Excellent question. See if Lice with take the skiff, it’s worth ten or twelve grand at least. That’s the best we can do.”  What now? But will Lice accept  this offer? Will Paine make it out of jail? You’ll just have to read the book!

Overall I enjoyed reading the book. Some parts I think were either not enough going or too much going on. For example for a least  a chapter straight all Noah was doing was reading magazines and thinking of a plan to bust Dusty, which at some parts was amusing but otherwise I feel the author could have included something a little more. Then also at other times I felt overwhelmed at the action going on. I feel that the author should have spaced things out a little more. One thing I loved about the book was the characters, specifically Noah because he had a lot of his dad in him but also had his mom’s sensibility. So when he wanted to bust Dusty, he always didn’t go as far as his dad but also the plan had a lot of power. I think the author really mixed his parents well into creating him. I really enjoyed learning about Noah. Another thing I enjoyed was the unexpected moments and the clues throughout the book. When I was reading and one random character would pop in and say something or do something. I would always wonder “Oh I wonder what means?” “How can I connect this with the other clues I know?”, I really enjoyed how whenever you thought the story was ending or stopping in a certain place, something would happen and the excitement built up again and you got to follow along a different story, in the same book. I think the reader that would most enjoy this is someone who is into realistic fiction, mystery, but mostly adventure. I think this because in the book it had a lot of different sides to it and all of them came together into a realist form. Also people who love a good read that isn’t just on one topic and love excitement will enjoy this book. But also since the book has so many aspects, it should be for kids 4th grade and over, but if you’re an advanced reader, you should try it out.

Overall I would rate this book 3.5 stars because it had its ups and downs with me but in the end, it didn’t disappoint. I haven’t really ever read an adventurous book, but I’m happy I did. I really loved the message it gave overall “If first you don’t succeed, try, try, again.” in my point of view. In conclusion this book really gave me my dose of a good read for summer, and I’m happy that I ‘flushed’ my feelings into this book review.