Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi; young adult, dystopia, adventure; 336 pages (about 8.5 hours on CD)I've been hearing a lot of buzz about this book, and I'm glad to say that it lives up to its reputation. This is the story of 15-year-old Nailer, a scavenger in the ship yards that supply raw materials from ancient freighters and oil tankers. The setting is hundreds of years in the future: the polar ice caps have melted, rising sea levels have drowned most coastal cities, and the oceans are ruled by advanced sailing ships, built from the scavenged parts collected by Nailer and others like him. Like most of the ship breakers, Nailer is hoping for a lucky strike--something that will get him out of the business before he becomes too large to crawl through the nooks and crannies of the dead ships. He thinks he's found it when he discoveres a luxury clipper ship wrecked near his beach, but there's one survivor clinging to life inside: the daughter of a wealthy shipping magnate who may be worth more than the whole ship.
I loved this book, and was disappointed to have it end. The setting was almost a character in itself--rotting seaside shanty-towns, gritty urban centers, and dazzling clipper ships made for constant interest, even during the rare down-time in the story. I can only hope there will be more things set in this intriguing world. I listened to this on audio, and I loved the narrator.
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