Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

Post date: Aug 24, 2011 3:09:57 PM

In Nailer's world there are the poor and the wealthy. He is a teenage boy who is trying to survive by working on a scavenger crew that has the dirty and dangerous job of stripping old oil tankers for scrap. There are no more fossil fuels left on the planet and coastal cities have been destroyed by rising ocean waters. His mother is dead and he has to live with his abusive and drug addicted father. After a brutal hurricane ravages the coast, Nailer and his friend Pima think they hit a "lucky strike" when they discover a modern clipper ship that ran a ground during the storm. They will be rich if they are able to scavenge the wreckage without anyone finding out, but then in the wreckage they discover a survivor. She is a rich girl who happens to be the daughter of the shipping-company owner. Should he kill the girl or take a chance and help her?