Ship Breaker
Set in a post climate collapse future, complete with underwater cities, super capitalists and gene hacked slave workers,
this is the story of a boy and his crew working in shipbreaking - recycling metal, oil and food from shipwrecks.
One day he gets a chance to "get lucky" - a chance to leave the stink of oil and poverty behind, if he s both lucky AND smart.
An amazing thriller, an easy to read adventure novel, this is essentially a meditation on smartness, values, luck, fate and love.
BUY THE BOOK
Community Reviews
Read this based on a recommendation, and while it's a little more bleak and boy-focused than I typically prefer, I was definitely drawn in and enjoyed the story.
To be honest, I only picked up this book because it won the Printz Award. The summary really doesn't do the book justice - it sounded a little boring. But when I began reading, I was sucked into Nailer's world of scavenging copper from old beached tankers. Most dystopian novels rely on their high tech schemes, but the setting for this novel far more interesting - pirates and beach shanties and clipper ships. The rusty, grimy living conditions added to the desperation of Nailer and his friends and heightened the action scenes.
There were are few places that were a little predictable and a few phrases that lost their luster from too much repetition (e.g. "blossoms of pain"), but overall the writing was well done. The descriptions of the people and the wrecked ship were quite visceral:
"The captain lay bloated, his face puffed and purpled, the sun baking and ruining his flesh.”
The part that struck me the most was the potential reality of the story - almost like a modern version of Lord of the Flies<\i> - kids willing to kill for survival.
On to the sequel . . .
There were are few places that were a little predictable and a few phrases that lost their luster from too much repetition (e.g. "blossoms of pain"), but overall the writing was well done. The descriptions of the people and the wrecked ship were quite visceral:
"The captain lay bloated, his face puffed and purpled, the sun baking and ruining his flesh.”
The part that struck me the most was the potential reality of the story - almost like a modern version of Lord of the Flies<\i> - kids willing to kill for survival.
On to the sequel . . .
See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.