Flush is a Hoot

I am having my first "kids" reading experience with Carl Hiaasen.  I read one of his adult novels a few years ago and was surprised to know that he was a children's author as well, given the "very adult" content of his adult novels.  In any case, I'm definitely enjoying the children's novel much more than the adult novel, although they are both wildly funny and outrageous in plot.  The book I am reading is called Flush, about a pre-teen (I think) boy whose father is a self-professed Nelson Mandela.  He has been arrested for trying to sink a gambling boat that is believed to be dumping raw sewage into the ocean, causing beaches to be closed, environmental hazards, etc.  Very creative plot and story!

Because the setting is in the Florida Keys, there is SOOOO much a Florida schoolteacher can do with these books.  I think each time a reference is made to some sort of Florida novelty, whether it's a tree, or plant, or animal, or highway, or even an idiom, students should research and keep track in a reading journal of some sort of all these items and what they mean.  For instance, the main character, Noah, makes a quick reference to a certain type of tree he passes.  Rather than just saying he passed a tree, Hiaasen says he passed a ..."Gumbo Limbo"h.  Students could find out what this tree looks like, draw a picture of it in their journal, describe it, and report back to the teacher where they have seen this tree on campus, or in their own neighborhood.