Oh. My. Word.  If you dare to pick up this book and read, hang on for the ride of your life.  Shipbreaker by Paolo Bacigalupi is packed with action and adventure, danger and violence, friendship and betrayl from the very first page. 

Nailor works as part of a light crew on the ravaged Gulf Coast.  He struggles to meet quota every day as he scavenges copper wiring from the wreckd ships that litter the coastline.  It is brutal work in a brutal world where it is hard to know who to trust.  Certainly not his father, whose violence escalates whenever he is sliding high on liquor and drugs.  Certainly not the weather with its regular “city killer” hurricanes that wipe clean Bright Sands Beach.

It is one of these hurricanes, though, that brings Nailer his lucky break.  A clipper ship, one of the sleek ships of the wealthy, crashes off an island.  Will Nailer kill the sole survivor–a swank girl–who is wearing more wealth that he has ever seen, or will he gamble to rescue her and return her to her people in hopes of even more reward?  Once Nailer makes his decision, the danger in his life increases ten-fold.  He must make instant decisions about who to trust and where to go.  Any mistake will lead to sure death–if he’s lucky.  Along the way he learns that the “civilized” wealthy are just as brutal as the gangs that roam the ship breaker’s beaches. 

I love how Bacigalupi slowly reveals the devestation caused by global warming in this future dystopia.  The ramifications of rising seas–cities sunk beneath the waves, New Orleans completely swamped, the desperate hunt for scrap metal and oil–become dangers that haunt this world.  Rather than slowing down the pace, these details egg it on even faster. 

Ship Breaker is one of the Top 10 books for Best Fiction for Young Adults 2011 (by the YASLA).  Check out the rest of the list, too.  It is also named as a National Book Award Finalist, the 2011 Michael J Prinz Award winner, and a 2011 Notable Children’s book.

Run to your nearest bookstore or library and get you hands on this book–if you dare.