Ship Breaker

by

Published Jan. 4, 2011 by Hachette.

View on OpenLibrary

4 stars (1 review)

In America's Gulf Coast region, grounded oil tankers are being broken down for parts by crews of young people. Nailer, a teenage boy, works the light crew, scavenging for copper wiring just to make quota and hopefully live to see another day. But when, by luck or by chance, he discovers an exquisite clipper ship beached during a recent hurricane, Nailer faces the most important decision of his life: strip the ship for all it's worth or rescue its lone survivor, a beautiful and wealthy girl who could lead him to a better life...

3 editions

reviewed Ship breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

Review of 'Ship breaker' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I finished this book far too quickly: it was very engaging and fun. [a:Paolo Bacigalupi|1226977|Paolo Bacigalupi|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1278742221p2/1226977.jpg] has created a truly engaging story made ready accessible thanks to its simple language and plot. That's not to say that this is a shallow book: it's set in a very realistic postapocalyptic world and deals with the issues of global warming, famine, and our dependence on oil.

It feels a lot simpler and cleaner than [b:The Windup Girl|6597651|The Windup Girl|Paolo Bacigalupi|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1278940608s/6597651.jpg|6791425], but also touches on many of the similar themes. I think I enjoyed that book more than Ship Breaker, but I can still recommend either without reservations. One thing to note is that this is a young adult novel and it really shows in how it deals with characters and the plot, though it does have some very dark things (like murder, addiction, etc) thrown into the mix.

My full review is …