The book, the first of three in a series by american science fiction author. Bacigalupis standout talent is to immerse the reader, and in ship breaker we are taken to a dystopian future, post peak oil, where nailer and his crew scavenge for copper and other valuable stuff in the guts of wrecked ships washed up by the retreating tides of the accelerated age. But when his crew discovers an attractive girl amid a shipwreck, nailer chooses to believe that nina is indeed the heiress she claims to be and that if he helps her and protects her ship, he may change his own fate forever. But when, by luck or chance, he discovers an exquisite clipper ship beached during a recent hurricane, nailer faces the most important decision of his life.
True, these pirates arent those genial, disney crews of the caribbean, and they dont have eye. Determine which chapters, themes and styles you already know and what you need to study for your upcoming essay, midterm, or final exam. Bacigalupi has drawn on all kinds of contemporary problems and followed them through to create a disturbing picture of life in the future. Because hes small, hes able to access smaller places in the ship. Why science fiction in an interview with the national book foundation, bacigalupi. Ship breaker and millions of other books are available for instant access. Ship breaker little, brown book group, 2011 in the shadow of the dinosaurs early mesozoic tetrapods, nicholas c. Choose from 57 different sets of ship breaker flashcards on quizlet. How does nailer know that the friendship he has with nita is real toward the end of the book. Reading along and finding yourself in outer space, under water or in a future you never envisioned creates the. But when, by luck or chance, he discovers an exquisite clipper ship beached during a recent hurricane, nailer faces the most. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Hopefully this will help any other teachers that have run into the same problem i had. One of my few criticisms is that some of the characters were lacking in development, but from reading the excerpt from the first two chapters of the second book in the series, some may have their full identities revealed in later books.
This thrilling bestseller and national book award finalist is a gritty, highstakes adventure of a teenage boy faced with conflicting loyalties, set in a dark future america devastated by the forces of climate change. Ship breaker, the new novel from highly acclaimed author paolo bacigalupi, poses a challenge to critics. A vocabulary list featuring ship breaker by paolo bacigalupi, chapters 16. Commentary and guiding questions for each chapter 29 in all. Climate change and violent storms have put much of the gulf coastal area under water. Nailer is part of a crew that breaks up tankers that are no longer in use. Ship breaker follows the story of nailer, an impoverished child laborer who lives in a world where. Paolo lives in western colorado with his wife and son. Fraser, hansdieter sues, aug 28, 1997, science, 435 pages. Not all tv is bad manufactured landscapes is a documentary that incited bacigalupis interest in ship breaking. Much of ship breakers success is due to its humor without which, it would have been borderline depressing. Ship breaker book douglas county libraries bibliocommons. See the complete ship breaker series book list in order, box sets or omnibus editions, and companion titles. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read ship breaker.
In americas flooded gulf coast region, oil is scarce, but loyalty is scarcer. In a futuristic world, teenaged nailer scavenges copper wiring from grounded oil tankers for a living, but when he finds a beached clipper ship with a girl in the wreckage, he has to decide if he should strip the ship for its wealth or rescue the girl. And people thought they knew what it meantit was a thing everyone had an opinion aboutthat it was all you had when you didnt have anything else, that family was there, that blood was thicker than water, whatever. Ship breaker test final test medium paolo bacigalupi this set of lesson plans consists of approximately 149 pages of tests, essay questions, lessons, and other teaching materials. The trailer is made in conjunction with inls 530 at unc, chapel hill. Fairly quickly in the story, his fears are severely put to the test. There is no lack of action in this novel, which works to its credit.
It was just a wordcould see its letters all strung together. People who like ship breaker book by paolo bacigalupi c. To get to her fathers allies up the coast, they will have to contend with marauding mercenaries, strange dogmen. The test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children. More paolo bacigalupi check out his website for more fiction and whats next for the author. A study guide is a comprehensive aid to reflective reading. The characters are multi dimensional and drive the plot. One of science fictions pleasures is the dislocation it confronts readers with, sometimes from page one. Ship breaker has everything that makes adventure books so exciting. Printz award winner and a national book award finalist. Gripping but bloody dystopian tale will make teens think. Take a free quiz on ship breaker by paolo bacigalupi and find out how well you know the book. Ship breaker shifts from a view of this dystopian future world to a frantic chase that brings nailer into conflict with new enemies and old ones. Ship breaker test midbook test hard paolo bacigalupi this set of lesson plans consists of approximately 149 pages of tests, essay questions, lessons, and other teaching materials.
On the gulf coast nearby, humanity has reverted to survival mode and a small economy has grown from the scavenging of washed up oil tankers for bits of copper and other valuables. Ship breaker s dystopian world not hard to imagine the scary part of this book is that the dystopian world is not that hard to imagine. The book takes place in the future after the seas have risen to the point of flooding coastal cities. The story takes place somewhere along the gulf of mexico, sometime in the future. I gotta know if the second half of this book gets better. This is a booktrailer for paolo bacigalupis awardwinning young adult novel, ship breaker. At the same time, i believe the book is also a poor fit for its intended audience.
In a futuristic americas gulf coast region, where grounded oil tankers are being broken down for parts, nailer works the light crew, scavenging for copper wiring just to make quota and hopefully live to see another day. The hero, nailer, lives a gritty, desperate life scavenging copper wire from the ducts of beached oil tankers while dreaming of sailing away on one of the hightech clipper ships that. Original sections on setting, genre, themes, etc 4. Ship breaker is very much an atsea book, a pirate story. With that, there are not a lot of lesson plans to gain inspiration from or to use. Ship breaker, for example, is dystopia at its grittiest and least fantastical. Human civilization is in decline for ecological reasons. Strip the ship for all its worth or rescue its lone survivor. His another famous novel, ship breaker, was also recognized as the most read adult novel that earned him high recognitions such as micheal l. A gritty teen betrays his father and flees his grim existence in a postglobalwarming gulf coast village to protect a young woman he barely knows in this gripping futuristic thriller. With a flood on the beach with a boat getting itself into a water vortex with nailer in a plane crash with nailer clamoring through a duct previous question next question.
As hes working with a crewmember, sloth, though, he falls into a vat of oil. Strip the ship for all its worth or rescue its lone survivor, a. But when, by luck or by chance, he discovers an exquisite clipper ship beached during a recent hurricane, nailer faces the most important decision of his life. At its core, the novel is an exploration of nailers discovery of the nature of. Unlike the windup girl, ship breaker has a direction and a purpose, and it is told in nononsense fashion. Bacigalupis cast is ethnically and morally diverse, and the books message never overshadows the storytelling, actionpacked pacing, or intricate worldbuilding. This was created for a 40 minute time slot but can be easily altered to. Paolo bacigalupis 2010 novel ship breaker is the quintessential postapocalyptic scenario in which the merging of ethnicities and cultures in overpopulated metropolises have created hybrid.
Climate change and violent storms have put much of the gulf coastal area under water, petroleumbased fuel is scarce, and oil tankers are obsolete. In a world ravaged by climate change, nailer is a teenage boy who salvages parts from old tankers. Roughly a hundred years from now, the ice caps have melted, causing. Paolo bacigalupi is the new york times bestselling author of the highly acclaimed the drowned cities and ship breaker, a michael l. Through the novel ship breaker, he tries to depict. Paolo bacigalupi is a rising star in the science fiction community. With ship breaker, it felt like the author was just leaving so much unsaid, and character interactions felt unconvincing. A bleak book and eerily timely with the gulf oil disaster, ship breaker is probably not too far off from what could happen in the future if we let greed go unchecked. The author of pump six and other stories and the windup girl, he is both a nebula and hugo award nominee, and the winner of the theodore sturgeon memorial award for best science fiction short story and two locus awards for best collection and best novelette. Paolo bacigalupis ship breaker is a science fiction story written for a young adult audience. This set of lesson plans consists of approximately 149 pages of tests, essay questions. The polar ice caps have melted and new orleans is underwater. When he discovers a survivor on a grounded ship, he must decide whether to do his job or to rescue her.
I believe that nailer is loyal because he puts aside his work and father towards his friends. The book is set on the gulf coast in america and imagines what life would be like after the seas have risen. Ship breaker is a gripping read, with an engaging protagonist, but it is the world building that is the real star. Ship breaker by paolo bacigalupi overdrive rakuten. Ship breaker is a 2010 young adult novel by paolo bacigalupi set in a postapocalyptic future. Ship breaker is a relatively new book, written in 2010. Take our free ship breaker quiz below, with 25 multiple choice questions that help you test your knowledge.