Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

Set initially in a future shanty town in America's Gulf Coast region, where grounded oil tankers are being dissembled for parts by a rag tag group of workers, we meet Nailer, a teenage boy working the light crew, searching for copper wiring to make quota and live another day. The harsh realities of this life, from his abusive father, to his hand to mouth existence, echo the worst poverty in the present day third world. When an accident leads Nailer to discover an exquisite clipper ship beached during a recent hurricane, and the lone survivor, a beautiful and wealthy girl, Nailer finds himself at a crossroads. Should he strip the ship and live a life of relative wealth, or rescue the girl, Nita, at great risk to himself and hope she'll lead him to a better life. This is a novel that illuminates a world where oil has been replaced by necessity, and where the gap between the haves and have-nots is now an abyss. Yet amidst the shadows of degradation, hope lies ahead.

This book won the ALA Printz award, and it was also a finalist for the National Book Award. I can see why. I loved it.

I love books that can go there with the darkness of reality and how crappy life can be, and yet not come across as heavy-handed and depressing. Ship Breaker is such a book. I was amazed at how ruthless Nailer’s reality is, the horrible things he’s faced with, and yet I never felt that the subject matter was too harsh or tedious. Bacigalupi does a fantastic job maintaining that balance.

The story is not exactly dystopia since the world hasn’t been destroyed and/or civilization hasn’t fallen apart. The worst thing that’s happened is the ice caps have melted, and there is far less land than there used to be. Also, green energy is used to power ships and cars instead of oil, but it’s expensive so only the rich have it. The story does have dystopic elements, and I think that’s mostly because it takes place in an area of extreme poverty. Survival is the name of the game here, as is the case in many dystopia stories. In Nailer’s world, there is also a huge divide between the rich and the poor, which lends to the overall feel of the book.

There are also strong themes of loyalty throughout the story. The whole concept of ‘we’re crew’ means you look out for one another or risk being branded so everyone knows you’re a traitor, and then you’ll never find work again. Nailer stays with his abusive father, and even feels compelled to save his life. The half-men, genetically engineered half-man half dog. Loyalty was written into their genetic code, so they don’t have a choice in the matter.

The characters are amazing, my favorite being Tool. He is the epitome of individual thought, and I thought Bacigalupi drew him well. Nailer is the ultimate scrapper, doing whatever needs to be done and using whatever he has handy, in order to survive. And Nita is the perfect example of self-respect. She’s not afraid to act, but only if she can live with herself afterward.

This is now one of my all-time favorite books. Highly recommended.