His love of nature was tempered by seeing developers turn the environmentally sensitive land into houses, resorts, and malls. Throughout his childhood, he played near swamps, scrubland, and lagoons. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHYĬarl Hiaasen was born in Plantation, Florida, on March 12, 1953, and raised in southern Florida with his three younger siblings. Maybe he's just found a way to channel his anger and at the same time inspire some youngster to action, for he sneaks in an important message into this book that with any luck the censors won't notice: sometimes breaking the law is the right thing to do. Praising the book in the New York Times, Sam Swope wrote, Hiaasen was lauded for his ability to weave environmental themes While Flush was not the popular smash hit that Hoot was when it was published several years earlier, the young adult novel was well liked by critics and readers. Hiaasen also includes memorable characters, usually humorously named, like the lying bully Bull and the dirty Lice Peeking. He describes in detail how sewage is dumped into water and its effect on the nearby environment. Like his adult novels, Flush does not shy away from the darker side of the issues as well. In his popular columns as well as his many novels, he speaks out against the development and transformation of the land in his beloved home state, often with a sense of humor and a touch of satire. Hiaasen is a native of south Florida and an outspoken newspaper columnist for the Miami Herald.

Throughout the text, Hiaasen emphasizes the beauty and glory of nature, while underscoring the ability of people, including children, to make a difference in preserving it. The winner of the 2006 Green Earth Award in the young adult category and the 2006 Agatha Award for best children/young adult fiction book, Flush follows the story of Noah Underwood and his family as he helps prove that a casino boat operator is illegally dumping sewage into the Florida Keys. Flush, published in 2005, is Carl Hiaasen's second novel aimed at a young adult audience and, like his first, Hoot, has an environmental theme.

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