Bacigalupi, P. (2010). Ship
breaker. New York , NY
Interest Level: Grades 9 – 12
This 2011 Printz winner (also a National Book Award for Young People finalist in 2010) imagines a future of great social
and wealth stratification, where the opportunity to do menial, dangerous labor
is considered a boon. Nailer and his friends dream of a "lucky strike" - finding oil or other wealth inside one of the giant ships they pick apart for trade. “We waste all our money throwing dice, trying to get close to Luck, trying to get the big win... To help us find something we can keep for ourselves.”
At the start of the novel, Nailer works light crew stripping copper in the most constricting, claustrophobic of spaces - the mazes of the ship's duct work. During a particularly grueling search for extra copper, Nailer makes a deadly mistake and falls through the duct into a giant vat of oil. But this isn't a lucky strike - with no way out, Nailer can't possibly profit; in fact, he's dangerously close to drowning in the oil. Nailer narrowly avoids death by escaping the oil through a submerged door, and he earns the nickname "Lucky Boy." After the night's celebrations, during which his friends give him gifts in an effort to secure some of his luck by proxy, a brutal storm blows onto the beach. Nailer survives the hurricane and saves his father, who was too drunk to save himself. The next day, while exploring the beach he discovers a wrecked clipper ship full of treasures – including a wealthy, beautiful girl named Lita. Nailer has a choice: he can kill the "swank," who wears enough gold to keep Nailer set for life, or he can let her live, hoping she'll reward him. SPOILERS AHEAD The duo eventually join a dog/man creature on a trip toOrleans
to reclaim her corporate throne, and Nita, who Nailer nicknames "Lucky Girl" is pursued and captured by enemies of Nita's father. Nita's pursuers also include Nailer's own father, who seeks to profit from her capture and punish his son for stealing Lucky Girl away. Nailer’s loyalty is ultimately rewarded after
he bests his drug addicted father in a metaphor-rich final battle.
At the start of the novel, Nailer works light crew stripping copper in the most constricting, claustrophobic of spaces - the mazes of the ship's duct work. During a particularly grueling search for extra copper, Nailer makes a deadly mistake and falls through the duct into a giant vat of oil. But this isn't a lucky strike - with no way out, Nailer can't possibly profit; in fact, he's dangerously close to drowning in the oil. Nailer narrowly avoids death by escaping the oil through a submerged door, and he earns the nickname "Lucky Boy." After the night's celebrations, during which his friends give him gifts in an effort to secure some of his luck by proxy, a brutal storm blows onto the beach. Nailer survives the hurricane and saves his father, who was too drunk to save himself. The next day, while exploring the beach he discovers a wrecked clipper ship full of treasures – including a wealthy, beautiful girl named Lita. Nailer has a choice: he can kill the "swank," who wears enough gold to keep Nailer set for life, or he can let her live, hoping she'll reward him. SPOILERS AHEAD The duo eventually join a dog/man creature on a trip to
My 2 cents: At first I found it difficult to connect with Nailer, who wasn't terribly compelling to me for some reason. The best character in this book is dystopian America. I found the depiction of a future sharply stratified U.S. both refreshingly realistic and delightfully grim.This is the reality of the romanticized apocalypse. Commerce would continue for the very rich, and the rest of us would end up scrambling for the scraps.
Other points:
Other points:
- The "half men" were an interesting element. They were one of the overly science fiction-y things about Ship Breaker. Apparently they were crafted as slave/obligate companions from human, dog, tiger and other animal DNA. As plot devices, they ask that all important sci-fi question: what makes a human, human?
- There's also a minor romantic element here, and who doesn't love the classic bad boy/nice girl pairing? But I did feel like it was really forced and blah. I liked Nita as a friend for Nailer, as her equal. I loved that she got into the grit with Nailer and everything. They didn't need to get sexy together. I wanted Nailer to save her because it was the right thing to do, not because he wanted to possess her himself.
- I felt like the conclusion of the ship battle was a little too convenient, but the storm created enough interest to keep it from being totally contrived. The storm also mimicked the action in the story, adding a lot of urgency to the tone and to what would have otherwise been a somewhat boring "final battle." When Nailer killed his father by tripping the gears that he feared getting caught in himself, the novel came together for me. The story is about Nailer's journey away from his own darkness, his primitive, selfish leanings. Nailer wasn't altogether different from his father: he really considered killing Nita for her gold. In fact, he repeatedly regretted not doing so. It was that part of himself that he needed to destroy; that aspect of his father in himself that he needed to snuff out. So when Nailer kills his father and escapes the sinking ship, he defeats his own darkness. Nailer was lucky to come across Nita, but while saving her, he saves himself.
