Ship Breaker - Book Review - TWU LS5603 - Spring 2012

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY Bacigalupi, Paolo. 2010. SHIP BREAKER. New York: Little Brown and Company. ISBN 9780316056212 2. PLOT SUMMARY Nailer thought the greatest “lucky strike” he might ever get in his life would be to stay small enough to work light crew for a few more years. Luckily for him a lack of food and the hard life that working salvage entailed were doing their job to keep him small and able to climb through the rusty hulks of the great ships of the past. For Nailer, a good day was making quota, spending time with his crew and staying away from his drug and alcohol enraged father. All of that changed, though, when a city-killer storm blew into town bringing a gorgeous, young, rich girl whose troubles captured him just as much as her deep eyes and playful smile. “If he was honest with himself Nailer could admit he had no idea what he was doing. He was making it up as he went along, some new version of the future, and all he really knew was that this strange swank girl needed to be a part of it.” As the trouble continues to brew among both the wealthiest of the wealthy merchants and the lowest of the low scrap-workers, Nailer and Nita, Lucky Boy and Lucky Girl, have to trust that there luck will continue to hold. 3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS As family become enemies, friends become family, and the truth about the ties that bind are slowly revealed in this engaging and at times harrowing novel by Paolo Bacigalupi. Set in a future where the great cities of the past are devastated by natural disasters grown too large to ever prepare for, where trade routes have shifted to now race over the melted North Pole, and where the barter system has re-emerged for those not swank enough to hold good Chinese Red cash, the tale seems all too likely to happen. The protagonist of the tale is utterly relatable to teen readers as a young man working as an adult, struggling to care for himself in a time when the remaining parent he has is more likely to hurt him than help him. He finds solace in the other members of his light salvage crew, until he comes face to face with how need and greed can make one turn on even a blood oath. When his chance comes to let greed overshadow choosing to protect the life of another, Nailer chooses life. The reoccurring theme in the Ship Breaker is really two sides of the same coin. First, family is a choice, not something based on biology alone, and one must choose to care and support those we love most deeply. The other side of this coin is that even if one’s own nature may reveal tendencies to act or think wrongly, we can also choose to overcome our baser nature. The world Bacigalupi reveals in his National Book Award Finalist tale is rich in texture and character nuances that ask the reader to evaluate people on a multitude of levels, not simply what is on the surface. Swanks, ship breakers and salvage yard rats as well as genetic half-breeds who also reveal their ability to choose their destiny bring the novel to life. As the world of a post natural apocalypse Earth is traversed by clippers of remarkable technology and grace, the day to day life of the struggling ship breaker is disheartening. Yet it also reveals the ability of young people to rise above trials, band together and fight for their own survival. The grittiness of the world the novel is set in is paired with a flowing narration that keeps readers engaged. The details of sights, smells, sounds and feelings of both pain and pleasure are tangible and entrancing, and they are told with particular significance from the perspective of the teenagers at the heart of the story. There is a reason why this book is an award winner! 4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S) PATRICK NESS -THE GUARDIAN: “It's a taut, disciplined novel, moving with tremendous coiled energy and urgency. I found it a tad colourless in places, but Nailer is a fine hero, complicated and questioning, always wondering whether he's doomed to inherit his father's failings or whether he can make his own destiny.” KIRKUS REVIEWS: “As Nailer experiences brutal betrayals, he relies on his wits and learns the people worth calling family are the ones who “[cover] your back.... Everything else [is] just so much smoke and lies.” In Bacigalupi’s defiled, depressing landscape populated by mercenary humans and mechanical dog-men, Nailer’s loyalty offers hope.” 5. CONNECTIONS 2010 National Book Award Finalist 2011 Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature *Students could research one element of climate change discussed in the book such as growing storms, loss of the polar caps, coastal city loss, etc. Then students could embed quotes from the novel into presentations on their chosen climate change subject. *Students could embed this book in a design course where they attempted to redesign the ships that Nailer and his crew salvage into more environmentally friendly ships. This project could be as simple or as advanced as student skill dictates. It could also incorporate simple digital drafting programs or even CAD drafting as well. *Other books for high school readers about a post-apocalyptic world: Aretha, David. MEMORY BOY. ISBN-10: 0060288116 Aguirre, Ann. ENCLAVE. ISBN-10: 0312650086