Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

Fri, 03/25/2011 - 3:27pm by Bertha

Paolo Bacigalupi, an established Science Fiction writer, took the 2010 Printz Award and the National Book Award for Ship Breaker.

Given for excellence in young adult literature, the Printz is quite an honor for Bacigalupi’s debut novel for young adults. An adventure set in a future world, where fossil fuels are used up and coastal cities are under water, seventeen-year-old Nailer scavenges for scrap metals in abandoned tankers. Nailer and his crew live in a world of leftover resources, doing work that is dirty and dangerous. He and his friend, Pima, come upon the wreck of a luxurious clipper ship and find a girl clinging to life. To save her would jeopardize Nailer with his violent, strung-out Dad, because finding this ship and it’s bounty would have be to kept secret. Can they trust this girl and her story of wealth and privilege? Ship Breaker is a thoughtful read about sustainable issues, as well as a gripping, action-packed thriller.