by Cameron Stracher
Hardcover, 240 pages
Published January 1, 2011
Sourcebooks Fire
bought for Kindle
Synopsis (from Goodreads): Welcome to a future where water is more precious than gold or oil-and worth killing for
Vera and her brother, Will, live in the shadow of the Great Panic, in a country that has collapsed from environmental catastrophe. Water is hoarded by governments, rivers are dammed, and clouds are sucked from the sky. But then Vera befriends Kai, who seems to have limitless access to fresh water. When Kai suddenly disappears, Vera and Will set off on a dangerous journey in search of him-pursued by pirates, a paramilitary group, and greedy corporations. Timely and eerily familiar, acclaimed author Cameron Stracher makes a stunning YA debut that's impossible to forget.
"Let us pray that the world which Cameron Stracher has invented in The Water Wars is testament solely to his pure, wild, and brilliant imagination, and not his ability to see the future. I was parched just reading it."-Laurie David, academy award winning producer of An Inconvenient Truth, and author of The Down to Earth Guide to Global Warming.
Published January 1, 2011
Sourcebooks Fire
bought for Kindle
Synopsis (from Goodreads): Welcome to a future where water is more precious than gold or oil-and worth killing for
Vera and her brother, Will, live in the shadow of the Great Panic, in a country that has collapsed from environmental catastrophe. Water is hoarded by governments, rivers are dammed, and clouds are sucked from the sky. But then Vera befriends Kai, who seems to have limitless access to fresh water. When Kai suddenly disappears, Vera and Will set off on a dangerous journey in search of him-pursued by pirates, a paramilitary group, and greedy corporations. Timely and eerily familiar, acclaimed author Cameron Stracher makes a stunning YA debut that's impossible to forget.
"Let us pray that the world which Cameron Stracher has invented in The Water Wars is testament solely to his pure, wild, and brilliant imagination, and not his ability to see the future. I was parched just reading it."-Laurie David, academy award winning producer of An Inconvenient Truth, and author of The Down to Earth Guide to Global Warming.
My Thoughts: I liked this novel enough. Not my favorite but I thought the story was interesting and different. I have been reading a lot of dystopian lately and I think I have been getting a little bored with them. The story would have to be really great for me to keep reading dystopian. Still, I liked the story. It was felt a little like a wake-up call for saving the environment. Water is scarce, highly valuable and closely guarded. This was one of the first times that I actually thought of all the things that we do with water; shower, wash dishes, have fish, cook, so many things that we take advantage of everyday. I think that the limit of something so common made the book a lot more believable.
The characters in the book felt a little lackluster. I liked Vera well enough, but I liked Will so much better. I almost wish that he could have been the main character. But we had Vera and I thought that she was a pretty strong character. I was never sure whether she was going to find Kai because she liked Kai or because she wanted him to find water for her mother. Kai was a bit one-dimensional. I just didn't understand why Vera would risk everything to go find him. She had a better relationship with the pirate that saved her and Will than she did with Kai.
Overall, I thought that the story moved quickly, although it seemed to get a little but muddled in the middle and at the end. Everything happened so fast that at times, I didn't know where I was or quite what was going on. Don't get me wrong, I thought the story was good, it was just confusing at times. At the end, I felt like I had spent all of that time following their story and all of a sudden it was over. I needed a little more wrap up.
Would I recommend this to 9th graders? Sure. I think the boys would like it because there is a lot of action and less explanation. The love story only plays a background part to the rescue.
My rating: 3.5/5
The characters in the book felt a little lackluster. I liked Vera well enough, but I liked Will so much better. I almost wish that he could have been the main character. But we had Vera and I thought that she was a pretty strong character. I was never sure whether she was going to find Kai because she liked Kai or because she wanted him to find water for her mother. Kai was a bit one-dimensional. I just didn't understand why Vera would risk everything to go find him. She had a better relationship with the pirate that saved her and Will than she did with Kai.
Overall, I thought that the story moved quickly, although it seemed to get a little but muddled in the middle and at the end. Everything happened so fast that at times, I didn't know where I was or quite what was going on. Don't get me wrong, I thought the story was good, it was just confusing at times. At the end, I felt like I had spent all of that time following their story and all of a sudden it was over. I needed a little more wrap up.
Would I recommend this to 9th graders? Sure. I think the boys would like it because there is a lot of action and less explanation. The love story only plays a background part to the rescue.
My rating: 3.5/5
I have heard that a lot of people had mixed feelings on the book. I'm kinda bummed to hear that the characters were lackluster cause I'm huge on character development, but I think sometimes with dystopian novels the plot tends to over take everything else.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!
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