Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
4/5
the perfect book to read when you're under a red flag warning and fire weather watch
the perfect book to read when you're under a red flag warning and fire weather watch
I drank so much water listening to this!
Though they give a hopeful ending, this book feels like a glimpse into a pretty close future that i believe we are as a society are in no way working to avoid. Definitely makes me want to up my own conservation and environmental efforts. Very discussable and would be great paired with lots of nonfiction on the topic. Some hackneyed/out of touch writing (I saw the real him as if he was being unzipped from a zip drive?!?!?!) but the action and pacing made that easier to overlook.
Though they give a hopeful ending, this book feels like a glimpse into a pretty close future that i believe we are as a society are in no way working to avoid. Definitely makes me want to up my own conservation and environmental efforts. Very discussable and would be great paired with lots of nonfiction on the topic. Some hackneyed/out of touch writing (I saw the real him as if he was being unzipped from a zip drive?!?!?!) but the action and pacing made that easier to overlook.
3.5/5
I do think this book displayed the very real consequences of such a disaster, and accurately portrayed how people would act in that situation. But I also think that the whole thing could have been more fleshed out. It was enjoyable and quick to read, and at times made me question myself, but I think that a disaster like this would be better as a series, like GONE, or even just a longer book. Some of the decisions the characters made were questionable, and I found their decisions and path very out-of-the-way or unrealistic. While this book did shed some light on serious issues, it feels like it was written very quickly. Also, I couldn't help but compare the situation in California to Flint, which was without clean water for years.
I do think this book displayed the very real consequences of such a disaster, and accurately portrayed how people would act in that situation. But I also think that the whole thing could have been more fleshed out. It was enjoyable and quick to read, and at times made me question myself, but I think that a disaster like this would be better as a series, like GONE, or even just a longer book. Some of the decisions the characters made were questionable, and I found their decisions and path very out-of-the-way or unrealistic. While this book did shed some light on serious issues, it feels like it was written very quickly. Also, I couldn't help but compare the situation in California to Flint, which was without clean water for years.
I recommend ‘Dry’ by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman for everyone of all ages, not just the middle school kids that are the intended audience.
I have copied the book blurb:
”The authors do not hold back.” —Booklist (starred review)
“The palpable desperation that pervades the plot…feels true, giving it a chilling air of inevitability.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“The Shustermans challenge readers.” —School Library Journal (starred review)
“No one does doom like Neal Shusterman.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
When the California drought escalates to catastrophic proportions, one teen is forced to make life and death decisions for her family in this harrowing story of survival from New York Times bestselling author Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman.
The drought—or the Tap-Out, as everyone calls it—has been going on for a while now. Everyone’s lives have become an endless list of don’t - don’t water the lawn, don’t fill up your pool, don’t take long showers.
Until the taps run dry. Suddenly, Alyssa’s quiet suburban street spirals into a warzone of desperation; neighbors and families turned against each other on the hunt for water. And when her parents don’t return and her life—and the life of her brother—is threatened, Alyssa has to make impossible choices if she’s going to survive.”
I suggest folks try to go without any water for 24 hours as an experiment.
In ‘Dry’, several points-of-view from various characters alternate with each other telling the story of living without water for two weeks. The teens are shocked by the human behavior they see, not only in their families and neighbors, but in strangers and in themselves. Everyone endures testing, finding out what they are willing to do to survive or who they want to save or help. Eventually, the help the government promised does come, but it is a matter of surviving until then. Not everyone does.
In ‘Dry’, official water use restrictions turn into no water coming from taps at all because Arizona and Nevada stop all of the water flowing from the Colorado River into southern California. It happens quite suddenly. All county and municipal water districts in Southern California immediately reroute all water resources under order of the governor. Most people find out this is happening only after they try to get water one morning from their taps for showers, cooking, cleaning, watering plants, drinking. Everyone turns on their TV if they have one to any local stations to hear the governor explain what is happening. He urges calm, and tells people that there will be help.
Of course, people panic. Remember what happened during the Covid lockdown? Stores were mobbed, and then shelves of important goods were emptied. This is what happens in “Dry” too. Also, similar to the Covid lockdown, despite official promises of speedy government response, government agencies and facilities are not prepared to handle the emergency at all. Things fall apart within days. Riots, social chaos, murders, water-born diseases from tainted water causes sickness, family members go out to get water or food and mysteriously never come back, better prepared neighbors get into fights with neighbors who made no preparations, young children begin sickening more quickly than adults. People have pets, including aquariums. Water becomes too precious to give to pets.
The timeline in the book is accelerated in that a few days without any drinking water is all it takes for many people to become animals fighting for personal survival. There are those who appear civilized, willing to share their bottled supplies, but for a price. Others share their meager supplies of water without any strings, only to realize too late that there is not enough for the weeks ahead for all of the people needing water. Unscrupulous folks are willing to break all criminal laws as well as any moral guides of decency to get water. These people feel no qualms in abusing others - stealing, killing, demanding sex, money - whatever they feel like.
Some reviewers point out the too-fast accelerated timeline of chaos was not realistic. Perhaps they are right. Some do not think order would be restored so quickly as it is in ‘Dry’. Perhaps they are right. However, the novel is otherwise spot on imho. I have relatives in the Bay Area. When my husband and I visited during a water shortage, we really weren’t thinking about how a water shortage would affect people. Restaurants restricted coffee, tea and water to one cup, and only was brought out to the table if customers requested drinks. We thought that was weird. But when we decided to stay with our relatives for a few days and not pay for a motel, the real impact finally made itself known. We couldn’t flush toilets for days and it smelled awful. We couldn’t take showers because it would have cost our relatives triple their normal water bill as the water usage was monitored. Our relatives were using “grey water” for almost everything - clean bucket water being used to wash their bodies, then being reused for dishes or clothes, and wiping down dirty surfaces in the house. Of course, since we visitors were psychologically thick-skulled, slow to realize what was happening, our relatives felt resentment and exasperation with us until we got with the program. I was quicker, I am happy to say, then was my husband, who really felt the lack of showers, and hated the stinky, filled-up toilet. We learned they were showering once a week, and flushing the toilet every three days. They had rocks in the water tank of the toilet to limit water flow. Clothes were being worn several days without machine washing, which was every two weeks, always only a full load. That is all their ‘cheap’ level of water usage permitted to them to do. If they used too much water over their assigned allotment, their water bill was astronomical. Every lawn we saw was colored deep brown, the grass and plants all dead. Having guests was an anxiety for them. When we left, much sooner than we had intended, we left behind money for them.
Our area’s 2024 snow pack is only 50% of normal for this time of year (March, going into April). Last year in August, 2023, water authorities throughout the Pacific Northwest asked people to voluntarily restrict their water usage. We had had a snowy winter in the nearby mountains in 2022/2023, but it had melted faster than normal. This year, 2024, we did NOT have a particularly snowy mountain winter. Daily average temperatures are hotter than normal in this area every month. The trees and plants are flowering weeks early.
Perhaps I am being unnecessarily gloomy, but I think what the Bay Area in the 1980’s experienced is what the people in the Pacific Northwest should expect soon. We should read this book even if we are adults and not middle-schoolers. Seriously.
I have copied the book blurb:
”The authors do not hold back.” —Booklist (starred review)
“The palpable desperation that pervades the plot…feels true, giving it a chilling air of inevitability.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“The Shustermans challenge readers.” —School Library Journal (starred review)
“No one does doom like Neal Shusterman.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
When the California drought escalates to catastrophic proportions, one teen is forced to make life and death decisions for her family in this harrowing story of survival from New York Times bestselling author Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman.
The drought—or the Tap-Out, as everyone calls it—has been going on for a while now. Everyone’s lives have become an endless list of don’t - don’t water the lawn, don’t fill up your pool, don’t take long showers.
Until the taps run dry. Suddenly, Alyssa’s quiet suburban street spirals into a warzone of desperation; neighbors and families turned against each other on the hunt for water. And when her parents don’t return and her life—and the life of her brother—is threatened, Alyssa has to make impossible choices if she’s going to survive.”
I suggest folks try to go without any water for 24 hours as an experiment.
In ‘Dry’, several points-of-view from various characters alternate with each other telling the story of living without water for two weeks. The teens are shocked by the human behavior they see, not only in their families and neighbors, but in strangers and in themselves. Everyone endures testing, finding out what they are willing to do to survive or who they want to save or help. Eventually, the help the government promised does come, but it is a matter of surviving until then. Not everyone does.
In ‘Dry’, official water use restrictions turn into no water coming from taps at all because Arizona and Nevada stop all of the water flowing from the Colorado River into southern California. It happens quite suddenly. All county and municipal water districts in Southern California immediately reroute all water resources under order of the governor. Most people find out this is happening only after they try to get water one morning from their taps for showers, cooking, cleaning, watering plants, drinking. Everyone turns on their TV if they have one to any local stations to hear the governor explain what is happening. He urges calm, and tells people that there will be help.
Of course, people panic. Remember what happened during the Covid lockdown? Stores were mobbed, and then shelves of important goods were emptied. This is what happens in “Dry” too. Also, similar to the Covid lockdown, despite official promises of speedy government response, government agencies and facilities are not prepared to handle the emergency at all. Things fall apart within days. Riots, social chaos, murders, water-born diseases from tainted water causes sickness, family members go out to get water or food and mysteriously never come back, better prepared neighbors get into fights with neighbors who made no preparations, young children begin sickening more quickly than adults. People have pets, including aquariums. Water becomes too precious to give to pets.
The timeline in the book is accelerated in that a few days without any drinking water is all it takes for many people to become animals fighting for personal survival. There are those who appear civilized, willing to share their bottled supplies, but for a price. Others share their meager supplies of water without any strings, only to realize too late that there is not enough for the weeks ahead for all of the people needing water. Unscrupulous folks are willing to break all criminal laws as well as any moral guides of decency to get water. These people feel no qualms in abusing others - stealing, killing, demanding sex, money - whatever they feel like.
Some reviewers point out the too-fast accelerated timeline of chaos was not realistic. Perhaps they are right. Some do not think order would be restored so quickly as it is in ‘Dry’. Perhaps they are right. However, the novel is otherwise spot on imho. I have relatives in the Bay Area. When my husband and I visited during a water shortage, we really weren’t thinking about how a water shortage would affect people. Restaurants restricted coffee, tea and water to one cup, and only was brought out to the table if customers requested drinks. We thought that was weird. But when we decided to stay with our relatives for a few days and not pay for a motel, the real impact finally made itself known. We couldn’t flush toilets for days and it smelled awful. We couldn’t take showers because it would have cost our relatives triple their normal water bill as the water usage was monitored. Our relatives were using “grey water” for almost everything - clean bucket water being used to wash their bodies, then being reused for dishes or clothes, and wiping down dirty surfaces in the house. Of course, since we visitors were psychologically thick-skulled, slow to realize what was happening, our relatives felt resentment and exasperation with us until we got with the program. I was quicker, I am happy to say, then was my husband, who really felt the lack of showers, and hated the stinky, filled-up toilet. We learned they were showering once a week, and flushing the toilet every three days. They had rocks in the water tank of the toilet to limit water flow. Clothes were being worn several days without machine washing, which was every two weeks, always only a full load. That is all their ‘cheap’ level of water usage permitted to them to do. If they used too much water over their assigned allotment, their water bill was astronomical. Every lawn we saw was colored deep brown, the grass and plants all dead. Having guests was an anxiety for them. When we left, much sooner than we had intended, we left behind money for them.
Our area’s 2024 snow pack is only 50% of normal for this time of year (March, going into April). Last year in August, 2023, water authorities throughout the Pacific Northwest asked people to voluntarily restrict their water usage. We had had a snowy winter in the nearby mountains in 2022/2023, but it had melted faster than normal. This year, 2024, we did NOT have a particularly snowy mountain winter. Daily average temperatures are hotter than normal in this area every month. The trees and plants are flowering weeks early.
Perhaps I am being unnecessarily gloomy, but I think what the Bay Area in the 1980’s experienced is what the people in the Pacific Northwest should expect soon. We should read this book even if we are adults and not middle-schoolers. Seriously.
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Amazing book, I reread it all the time.
adventurous
dark
hopeful
sad
medium-paced