ShipBreaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

Ship Breaker is a a pretty fast paced book about a young boy named Nailer whose job is to break down ship wrecks and to recover wiring, hardware, gold, etc...It takes place in the not too distant future in a world where global warming and severe weather has wiped out major cities around the world and you really see a two scenario world...one where you are born to salvage and one where you are born rich and benefit from the salvaging. In this book, a sailing ship is washed ashore by a brutal storm and Nailer finds the boat, and the only survivor, the daughter of one the world's biggest shipping magnates. He struggles to save her or to make her part of a ransom to secure a better life for himself. In choosing to save her, he alienates most of the people he works with and his family. There is lots of action and it is a nice mix of girl and boy heroine so I think it would appeal to most of the masses. Interestingly, I found a YouTube video of the author talking about the book and his inspiration of actual Ship Breakers in Bangladesh ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIzEGbDHAhs )

Annabel read our "Opponent" book, Restoring Harmony so we will switch them off this week and decide on our final winner.