Nailer works as a ship breaker, stripping rusted out wrecks of anything useful. The world has been wracked by fuel crises and devastating climate change that raised sea levels and still produces city-killer hurricanes. Survival is tough for everyone but the very rich, and making a fortune is often dependent on good luck. When a massive storm wrecks a rich girl in a fancy boat, Nailer chooses to abandon the scavenge to help her find her way back to her allies, rather than turn her over to his abusive father.
Citation
Bacigalupi, P. (2010). Ship breaker. New York, NY: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Impression
This book was actually in my audiobook queue before I started this class--I have been meaning to read it for a while, and I was glad to get the chance to do so this semester. I loved the worldbuilding in this book--Nailer's culture felt very complete, as did the climate devastation. I also loved the diversity--there has been a lot of discussion in the last couple of years about diversity in YA, and this book had a very multicultural cast without making a big deal about it. I also liked that it was a different sort of dystopia. So many YA dystopias, (Uglies, Hunger Games, Divergent) have their protagonists fighting against the government or the world in general. Ship Breaker was a lot more personal, and as much as I like all those other books, it was a nice change of pace.
Review:
Grade 7 Up—A fast-paced postapocalyptic adventure set on the American Gulf Coast. Nailer works light crew; his dirty, dangerous job is to crawl deep into the wrecks of the ancient oil tankers that line the beach, scavenging copper wire and turning it over to his crew boss. After a brutal hurricane passes over, Nailer and his friend Pima stumble upon the wreck of a luxurious clipper ship. It's filled with valuable goods—a "Lucky Strike" that could make them rich, if only they can find a safe way to cash it in. Amid the wreckage, a girl barely clings to life. If they help her, she tells them, she can show them a world of privilege that they have never known. But can they trust her? And if so, can they keep the girl safe from Nailer's drug-addicted father? Exciting and sometimes violent, this book will appeal to older fans of Scott Westerfeld's "Uglies" series (S & S) and similar action-oriented science fiction.—Hayden Bass, Seattle Public Library, WA School Library Journal
Bass, H. (2010, October 14). [Review of the book Ship Breaker, by P. Bacigalupi]. School Library Journal. Retrieved from http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/slj/home/887250-312/slj_reviews_the_national_book.html.csp
"A gritty teen betrays his father and flees his grim existence in a postglobal-warming Gulf Coast village to protect a young woman he barely knows in this gripping futuristic thriller. Fifteen-year-old Nailer works on the "light crew" as a ship breaker, salvaging metals from abandoned oil tankers. Nailer's vicious father routinely beats him. In this violent world where people do anything for money, Nailer's future seems bleak until he discovers Nina, the wealthy, attractive survivor of a shipwreck. Rather than kill Nina and steal the salvage, Nailer opts to save her, triggering a harrowing journey to the submerged cities of Orleans to find people loyal to Nina. As Nailer experiences brutal betrayals, he relies on his wits and learns the people worth calling family are the ones who "[cover] your back.... Everything else [is] just so much smoke and lies." In Bacigalupi's defiled, depressing landscape populated by mercenary humans and mechanical dog-men, Nailer's loyalty offers hope. Told in the third person, this stark, surreal story sends an alarm to heed the warning signs of climate change or suffer a similar fate."
(2010, April 1). [Review of the book Ship Breaker, by P. Bacigalupi]. Kirkus. Retrieved from http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/paolo-bacigalupi/ship-breaker/#review
Uses:
I think it would be fun to have a sort of Dystopia Book Club. Teens would read a bunch of dystopias--Ship Breaker, Hunger Games, the Uglies books, Divergent, Matched, Delirium, even older ones like Shade's Children--and get some sort of prize for reading them all. There could even be a costume contest--dress up like your favorite characters and win a prize.
No comments:
Post a Comment