Dry by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

DRY by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman is all about the Tap-Out, the result of a major drought in Southern California which has been going on for a while. What makes this novel so vivid and relevant is the absolutely remarkable way that the Shustermans use multiple narrators to relate the events after Arizona and Nevada decide to shut the floodgates on any water supplies to California: “[Mom’s] watching the TV, where a news anchor is blathering about the “flow crisis.” That’s what the media’s been calling the drought, ever since people got tired of hearing the word ‘drought.’ Kind of like the way ‘global warming’ became ‘climate change’ and ‘war’ became ‘conflict.’”

Are you thirsty yet? You will be when reading this dystopian survival story which centers on Alyssa and Garrett, a sister and brother whose parents leave to look for water and don’t return. The siblings team up with Kelton (his Dad is an ex-Marine survivalist) and Jacqui who says, “I’m disappointed by people – how weak they are, how frail their psyches must be to allow a water shortage to turn them into murderous mobs.”  A “compulsively readable and unnerving tale” per the Horn Book review, DRY received starred reviews from Booklist, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal.

A Midwest Focus …

I thought I would do a post about two new nonfiction books based geographically in the Midwest, but with much larger implications.

The first, GLASS HOUSE by Brian Alexander, tells the story of Lancaster, Ohio, home to Anchor Hocking Glass. And it was a good home – a factory town where workers and executives lived near each other and where a life, including local sports teams and free holiday turkeys, centered around the company.  That, at least, was true in times like 1947 when Forbes devoted an issue to the city as an exemplar of American enterprise. And through the late 1960’s, Anchor Hocking employed 5000 in a town of 29,000 – a staggering proportion. Since then, as the cover aptly conveys, a downward spiral ensued. 

Alexander is an award winning journalist who grew up in Lancaster and who subtitles his book “the 1% economy and the shattering of the All-American town.”  In the past 30 years, Anchor Hocking has gone thru Chapter 11 (twice) and recapitalization, been owned by numerous entities and led by a variety of CEO’s, faced foreign competition and “big box” store pricing pressures, all while undergoing name changes (Global Home Products, EveryWare, and Oneida Group).  As a result, there was a definite retrenchment in its workforce and benefits, the loss of a local identity and increase in drug abuse.  GLASS HOUSE will make an interesting companion read to Hillbilly Elegy for our students with both speaking to these negative trends, their political impact, and changes in life near the Appalachians. GLASS HOUSE received a starred review from Kirkus and was recently profiled by a wide variety of media outlets: NPR, Christian Science Monitor, Slate and The Wall Street Journal. 

The second book is called THE DEATH AND LIFE OF THE GREAT LAKES by Dan Egan.  I started to read the introduction and was immediately struck by these facts: “Of the 3 percent or so [of the world water] that is freshwater, most is locked up in the polar caps or trapped so far underground …. And of the sliver left over that exists as surface freshwater readily available for human use, about 20 percent of that – one out of every five gallons available on the planet – can be found in the Great Lakes.”

As someone who drives by Lake Michigan every day, I was shocked by much of what I read.  Egan was twice a Pulitzer Prize finalist for his reporting on this subject and calls the impression that humans and the lakes have finally learned to get along a “mirage.”  Instead, he contends that his text will “illuminate an ongoing and unparalleled ecological unraveling of what is arguably North America’s most precious natural resource.” Complex and technical at times, THE DEATH AND LIFE OF THE GREAT LAKES will shortly be on our shelves after receiving starred reviews from Booklist, Kirkus, and Library Journal.  

The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi

Paolo Bacigalupi is a science fiction and fantasy writer who has garnered an impressive list of awards and nominations over the past 10 years. His writing certainly pulls the reader into the story, but unfortunately, I have not been able to finish even one of his books because they seem so violent and sad to me.

I tried Ship Breaker a few years ago and have just started reading his most recently published title, The Water Knife. That is a fascinating look at a dystopian future where water rights are key.  It’s a complex story with multiple sets of characters whose lives eventually intersect:

• Angel a “water knife” who works for Catherine Case, a ruthless leader who does not hesitate to cut water supplies;
• Lucy, journalism major and young reporter looking for an exposé despite the danger
• Maria and Sarah, refugee friends who are struggling to survive either by selling themselves or any water they find.

Bacigalupi skillfully weaves a tale of power, corruption, and greed which Kirkus Reviews calls “disturbingly believable.” Written for adults and mature teens, The Water Knife has been described in other reviews as compelling, horrific, gory, lawless, frightening, and vicious. I read about being left dead with one’s eyes pried out, but decided to skip the other parts about torture.  However, if you are someone who truly likes “dark” dystopian fiction, then look for The Water Knife. This title received starred reviews from Booklist, Library Journal and Publishers Weekly. It is likely to earn more awards for Paolo Bacigalupi.