1.BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bacigalupi, Paolo. 2010. SHIP BREAKER. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 9780316056212
2. PLOT SUMMARY
Nailer
works on the light crew stripping copper wire from the old grounded oil
tankers. His day by day existence of
struggling to make quota was turned upside down when he discovered a clipper
ship wrecked on the beach after a hurricane.
He realizes the find could be his “lucky strike” to a better life when
he sees how much of the ship and the contents of the ship are worth. He then discovers that there is one survivor,
a wealthy girl named Nina. He must then
choose to save the girl or abandon the girl and cash in on the find. He chooses to save the girl. Nina and Nailer then begin a dangerous
adventure of finding Nina’s crew. Their
journey includes an attempt to escape from dangerous half-men and Nailer’s
cruel father, Richard Lopez. Will Nailer
and Nina find Nina’s loyal crew or will they succumb to their enemies? Find out by reading SHIP BREAKER by Paolo
Bacigalupi.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Paolo Bacigalupi throws the reader into the story by
starting the story with no background knowledge of what is going on. The reader has to gradually figure out what
is going on. The world Nailer lives in
is a stark, futuristic view of the gulf coast.
In this world, there is a large economic gap between the wealthy and
poor. Global warming and pollution have
taken a toll on the earth. The
characters are well-developed in the story and each character has a specific
personality. The characters often
struggle when making difficult decisions.
When deciding to help Nina or use her to gain money, Nailer struggles to
do what is right. “You want to be like
Sloth? he asked himself, Do anything
just to make a little more cash?”
Bacigalupi chooses the language of the characters to
show their background. Nailer uses swear
words and lives in survival mode. Nina,
from her wealthy background, is shocked by some of the things that Nailer says
and does. Both Nina and Nailer change
through the book as the other person’s perspective changes their
perspective. The book has a lot of
violence that is described in detail.
The fantasy characters of half-men seem to be believable in the story
because they are well described and seem to have characteristics of both dogs
and people. The book has no illustrations inside. The book’s cover is designed to look like
oxidized copper with the title looking like someone scratched “Ship Breaker” in
the copper. This makes the book look
like it has been salvaged from one of the oil tankers in the book. The book has non-stop action so beware that
the reader will not want to put the book down!
4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Children's Notable Books, 2011
Michael L. Printz Award Winners, 2011
Texas Lone Star Reading List, 2011
TAYSHAS High School Reading List, 2011
Horn Book Magazine: “This thriller will grab and keep readers’ attentions as Nailer and Nita “crew up” in their fight to survive.”
School Library Journal: “A fast-paced post-apocalyptic adventure…”
5. CONNECTIONS.
* Students can use a double-bubble thinking map to compare life in the United States during Nailer’s futuristic time period with life in the United States today. (A double-bubble map is similar to a Venn diagram.)
*Teachers can connect this book to a lesson about global warming and climate change.
*Other fantasy books by Paolo Bacigalupi:
Bacigalupi, Paolo. THE DROWNED CITIES. ISBN 9780316056243
Bacigalupi, Paolo. THE ALCHEMIST. ISBN 9781596063532
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