Flush (Hiaasen)

Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:

• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)

Also consider these LitLovers talking points to help get a discussion started for Flush

1. Do you find this book funny? How does Hiaasen create his humor, particularly with character names? What parts made you laugh?

2. Talk about the differences between Noah and Abbey—what is about the two of them that makes them such a good team?

3. What about their family? What does each think about their parents? What does Donna want to fix in Paine?

4. Hiassen devotes time to father-son relationships. Discuss the relationship between Noah and his father. Does Paine expect too much of his young son...is he right to depend on Noah? What does Noah learn from this father? What about the book's other father-son relationships—Jasper, Jr. and Dustry Muleman?

5. The story also revolves around bullying. How does Noah's father define bullying? Do you agree? Who are the bullies in this book?

6. Is it fair or right of Paine to involve his family in his environmental causes? Can one be too committed to a cause? Is Donna justified in worrying about her husband's actions? Does she lack courage or is she simply tired of rescuing her husband?

7. Paine claims he's not a criminal despite the fact that he's broken the law. He says he knows "right from wrong." Does he? Is there a higher moral claim to his actions? What justification, if any, does he have for his actions? Does philosophical justice trump legal justice...when the legal system doesn't fulfill it's role?

(These Questions by LitLovers are adapted from Random House Teachers Guide. Please feel free to use them online or off, with attritubtion to both sources. Thanks.)

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