When I begin reading a “teen novel” I always do so with the slight possibility that I will end up disappointed. It’s not that I think that young adult authors are bad. I think that they tend to write solely for their audience though and occasionally, teens do not have the best taste. I am always afraid that the protagonist is going to be whiny, emo, and lack depth like Bella Swan in the Twilight series. Luckily for me, every once in a while, a novel for young adults comes along and reaffirms my belief that there is still hope for the genre.
Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi not only reaffirms my belief, it makes me want to continue reading novels in the young adult genre. Apparently, this is the first young adult novel for Bacigalupi though he has won awards for previous work that he’s done in other genres. I think the thing that I liked the most about Ship Breaker is that while the main characters are children, this is a novel that just about anyone interested in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy realm could appreciate. The kids have a very adult feel to them because the world they live in, while similar, is far different than the one that your children could relate to or understand. This is a novel that is filled with excellent writing, engaging characters and a strong plot that takes you on a roller coaster ride from beginning to end.
The problem with a fantasy novel, specifically when reviewing one, is offering some of the story without giving too much away. Often the best part of fantasy is revealing this new world for the first time and learning about it with each turn of the page. Keeping this in mind, there are some things that can easily be told without ruining anything for the reader.
Nailer, is a teenage boy, somewhere around the age of 13-15 years old. He isn’t sure how old he is, but he knows that he’s not older than his best friend Pima, a hard as nails girl that he has grown up with on the beach where they live. In the Gulf Coast region of the South, life as we know it is a different experience. Oil is a hot, and often rarely found commodity. Oil tankers no longer carry crude. Instead they lay on the beaches and are disassembled by light and heavy crew. Nailer and Pima work light crew together. While Pima is the boss of the crew, Nailer is still small enough to be able to climb through the various caverns of the tanker, stripping copper to make quota.
More than anything, Nailer dreams of making it off of the beach where he scrounges for copper and wishes for a better life. He dreams of a place where he can have a good meal when he’s hungry and where he doesn’t have to look over his shoulder for his dad that knocks him around when he’s sliding. He dreams of sailing away on a clipper ship, the boats that only swanks and the extremely lucky crew have access to. However, after a storm, a clipper ship lands in Nailer’s lap, along with a huge amount of scavenge. The scavenge includes a girl around his age that needs to rely on Nailer to survive. It’s up to Nailer to make the choice to strip the ship and take everything he can for himself and his family or to save the lone survivor on the ship and risk his life for the prospect of a better one.
I don’t normally recommend a YA novel to everyone, but in this case that is what I am going to do. If you love to read, I highly recommend you check out Ship Breaker. This is a fabulous novel that ends in a perfectly resolved manner. The only complaint I have is that I feel like this ended too soon. I will miss Nailer and his crew, although, I am sure this was just my first time of many to actually read this great of a book.
Technorati Tags: Nailer, Ship Breaker, Paolo Bacigalupi, Young Adult, Novel, Book Review, Swank, Clipper Ship, Oil
Written by Ashtyn Evans – Visit Website
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Ashtyn is in her early 30s. She is a mother, writer, college student, and music lover. Ashtyn has had a successful career as a writer since 2003. She turned to blogging in 2005. Ashtyn attends Wright State where she is getting a degree in Psychology. She has extensive knowledge in SEO and Social Media Development.
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