Ship Breaker

Ship Breaker is a book about a teenage boy named Nailer who works on a beach as a ship breaker. A ship breaker is exactly what it sounds like. They go into old broken ships and break them up looking for bronze, scrap metal, and if you're lucky, oil. In the beginning Nailer is scavenging a ship for bronze wire in what I think is an air vent when he accidentally breaks through and lands in a room filled with oil. He finds a way to escape and is given gifts of luck from his "crew" a.k.a. the people he scavenges with.

When he goes home you meet his unstable, always either drunk, high (or both), and brutal father who constantly beats and tortures him. Eventually Nailer and one of his crew, Pima, are exploring after a "city killer" and they are surprised to find a crashed clipper ship on the shore. At first they are excited because the ship has enough scavenge to make them more than rich. Then they come across a girl who is already half dead and has more gold on her fingers than they would ever make in a life time of ship breaking. But instead of killing her and taking all the scavenge, he saves her and brings her to safety. They eventually find out who she is, where she came from, and all the troubles and responsibility of having her in their company.

I enjoyed this book a lot and think it is something you should read if you're waiting for the next book in a series or just can't find a good book. It is a little inappropriate with cuss words, violence, and drug and alcohol references. I'd say it maybe for ages 12 and up, and it is by Paolo Bacigalupi.
-Chase (Age 12)