Ship Breaker
Ship Breaker was my Christmas present from Kevin this year - the random book with a cool cover that he saw at the deep-discount store. As this tradition goes, it was better than most. Though the awards on the cover indicated that it might be.
This is dystopian YA from the height of the dystopian YA phenomenon. When it seemed like everyone had something to contribute to that particular genre and it all started to blend together. So I was pleasantly surprised that this stood out from the pack. First because it posits a world that I could actually see coming to pass (unlike the Hunger Games, which are a bit too far removed from reality, though they serve as an apt allegory). And second because it doesn't slot white characters into the oppressed group.
After global warming melted the poles and we ran out of oil, the rich kept getting richer and the poor kept getting poorer. Out protagonist, Nailer, works stripping copper wire from old ships and oil tankers that now dot the coast of the oil-slicked Gulf of Mexico. His future is uncertain and her present is barely tolerable. So when he discovers a brand-new ship full of treasure ship-wrecked after a storm, even he can't quite articulate why he doesn't just kill the last survivor and abscond with her gold.
Instead they tie their fates together in an attempt to escape his violent, addict father and her ambitious, amoral uncle. It's a fast-paced, exciting adventure in a terrifying world that seems all too likely to become a reality at this point.
This is dystopian YA from the height of the dystopian YA phenomenon. When it seemed like everyone had something to contribute to that particular genre and it all started to blend together. So I was pleasantly surprised that this stood out from the pack. First because it posits a world that I could actually see coming to pass (unlike the Hunger Games, which are a bit too far removed from reality, though they serve as an apt allegory). And second because it doesn't slot white characters into the oppressed group.
After global warming melted the poles and we ran out of oil, the rich kept getting richer and the poor kept getting poorer. Out protagonist, Nailer, works stripping copper wire from old ships and oil tankers that now dot the coast of the oil-slicked Gulf of Mexico. His future is uncertain and her present is barely tolerable. So when he discovers a brand-new ship full of treasure ship-wrecked after a storm, even he can't quite articulate why he doesn't just kill the last survivor and abscond with her gold.
Instead they tie their fates together in an attempt to escape his violent, addict father and her ambitious, amoral uncle. It's a fast-paced, exciting adventure in a terrifying world that seems all too likely to become a reality at this point.
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