Beyond Sanctioned Activism in Carl Hiaasen's "Flush": Sacrifice Zones in Realistic Fiction

Carl Hiaasen's "Flush" (2005) addresses one of the key issues of our time: environmental degradation. His story offers children opportunities to think about how to act and behave in the face of environmental challenges and serves as an argument against prioritizing capitalism over the environment and humanity. "Flush" positions children in complex situations as both agentive and lacking control as they contend with family and environmental problems in the Florida Keys. In this article, the author describes environmental and economic impacts in what can be considered a "current" sacrifice zone rather than a future one, thus opening up problem solving about environmental degradation as an existing issue, rather than a future conversation. This literary analysis considers realistic children's literature as a powerful means of exploring children's futures within the challenge of environmental and economic degradation today.