Bacigalupi, Paolo. Ship Breaker. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2010. Print.
Brief Summary: Ship Breaker tells the story of Nailer, a 15 year old boy working as a ship breaker (he scavenges wrecked ships for valuable parts). The book is set in a dystopian future and he lives on an island where ship breaking is the only way to make any money. He is trapped in a life of poverty where his mom is dead and his dad is always beating him. Just when he feels completely hopeless, he ends up rescuing a “swank” (rich) girl from a wrecked ship. She might be his ticket out of the rough world he has known all his life, but first they must find a way to escape the evil clutches of Nailer’s dad.
Overall impression: I wasn’t terribly impressed by the plot, but dystopian and adventure lovers will enjoy.
Critical Analysis: Ship Breaker is classified as dystopian/scifi and has won the Printz Award, the Locus Award for best science fiction novel, and has been nominated for many others. Although many dystopian novels have gained popularity over the past decade, this particular one stands out for its emphasis on natural disasters and environmental causes of the future world.
It has definite appeal for teens who are fans of this genre, particularly boys. The main character is a 15 year old boy and the other young characters are all around that age. Teens might pick up this book thinking that they will enjoy the intense adventure that awaits them, but many will find that they have some similarities with Nailer or even the rich girl, Nita. Nailer faces many hardships that are seemingly unique to this futuristic world that he lives in, but teens might relate to his lack of a family, his struggle to get out of poverty, his hopelessness, or even his struggle to do what is right despite what others think. Although we all hope that teens are not facing these issues, we know that many are and need books like these to tell them they aren’t alone.
The strengths of this novel are its unique setting and characters, its fast-paced nature, and its ability to relate to struggling young adults without being blunt about it. Its weakness (strictly in my opinion) is its ending. I just found the end to be dull. He could have added more detail.
Activity: Librarians could create a book trailer to promote this book, using footage from real hurricanes and shipwrecks. This trailer could be displayed in the library so that teens can watch it. Along with the trailer there could be a selection of nonfiction books about environmental issues and natural disasters and teens could scan a QR code that will take them to a fun quiz to test their knowledge on such information.
Related Resources: http://climate.nasa.gov/ This website explains climate change. Readers of Ship Breaker might use this resource to delve deeper into the underlying cause of the book’s setting.
http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/natural-disasters/ This website explains the many different natural disasters. Ship Breaker mainly references hurricanes, but teens might find the information on the other disasters interesting as well.
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