Imagine you’re in a world divided in two. There are those who are rich who sail around the world in huge clippers trading spices and making more money, and there are others who live in shacks made of anything they can get their hands on, tearing apart ships for a living. 15-year-old Nailer is the shortest person on his light crew which gives him the job climbing through the power ducts collecting as much copper wire as he can.

Are you the kind of reader who is interested in action-packed sci-fi novels? If you are, this is the kind of book for you.

This book is set in a dystopian world on the Gulf Coast of New Orleans where oil is limited and uncommon and stripping beached oil tankers is a common sight for 15-year-old Nailer Lopez and his light crew who work hard and endless hours to make a quota, until a massive storm hits the coast. With Nailer only just surviving, he finds a clipper ground and untouched by anyone and its only survivor, a young girl, could be his ticket out of his job. He would never have to go in or out of an electrical duct again.

Overall I enjoyed this book ‘Ship Breaker’, because of its interesting and bizarre plot and with its mysterious characters. I recommend this book for people who enjoy dystopian stories and are aged 10 – 15. I would rate this book 5 stars.

Seth O., Year 8

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“Killing isn’t free. It takes something out of you every time you do it. You get their life; they get a piece of your soul. It’s always a trade.”

Nailer is running out of time. He is getting too big for his work. Once he is sent off the crew he will be on his own, left with his drug driven, violent father in a beach shack with no food or supplies. One day a deadly hurricane hits the coast killing three of Nailer’s crew, but did this hurricane also wash up the “lucky strike” he was wishing for?

The novel is set in a dystopian future on the Gulf Coast of New Orleans, stripping old, rusty oil tanks that leak all over the beach. Nailer Lopez at the age of 15, and the rest of his crew, work long, hard hours to make quota and stay alive. Nailer and his crew struggle to survive off the tiny wage of pay and forever-lasting hours of work.

Since Nailer is small, he works in a dangerous environment, stripping copper wire from the old, ruined ship vents. Nailer knows he will soon be too big for his job and his only hope for survival is hitting a lucky strike.

A disastrous hurricane strikes and leads him to an unknown clipper ship, which has on board a young, rich girl. Nailer has two extremely hard decisions: should he proceed to live a bland, boring life, stripping ships, or should he take the biggest risk of his life and save the strange girl (Nita), to live an adventurous and wealthy life?

The novel “Ship Breaker” is an awesome read! The strange characters and amazing plot is what caught my eye. The suspicion kept carrying on page by page which is why I just could not stop reading.

This is definitely the most eye-opening novel I’ve read yet! If you’re into a book packed with action, quirkiness and darkness, this is most definitely a book that your heart will treasure.

I definitely recommend this book for teenagers (aged 13-18) who show interest in Science Fiction and strange, dystopian novels. This is one of my favourite books yet!

– Jay W, Year 8.

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‘Ship Breaker’ is an amazing Sci-Fi yet romantic book. It also has a lot of adventures and troubles along the way.

This Sci-Fi fiction book is about Nailer, his crew and drug addicted Dad, going on a big adventure on Nailer’s boat. On their trip Nailer leaves his violent, drug driven dad on a beach with absolutely no food or water and he had to figure a way to live.

If you love Sci-Fi and love action packed adventures and problems, then ‘Ship Breaker’ is the perfect book for you. It includes amazing things that nearly everyone could possibly like! ‘Ship Breaker’ is also about romance, loyalty, braveness and more. In the book the characters are very brave and smart because they do quite a few difficult things along their journey around the world.

I really enjoyed the book ‘Ship Breaker’. It’s really a good book about all kinds of themes, moods and set in different places, although it’s not my type of book.

I would recommend ‘Ship Breaker’ to people who absolutely love books set in different places, with variable themes and mood changing chapters. I would recommend it to readers over 10 years of age.

Kayla J, Yr 8

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‘Ship breaker’ is a book that is action packed Sci-fi. Somewhat romantic, and mysterious, this book is also to do with engineering and craft ship.

A good quote from ‘Ship breaker’ would be “I’m a chess piece. A pawn,’ she said. ‘I can be sacrificed, but I cannot be captured. To be captured would be the end of the game.” This quote signifies that Nailer never gives up and he is determined to win the ‘game’.

This book is set one hundred years from now and trouble is happening with the ice. It is a very gripping and suspenseful book as in some parts of the book it makes your heart beat a little faster.

This novel is set one hundred years from now when the ice is melting, oil is scarce and work is tough. The 15-year-old boy Nailer and his crew work hard hours from day to day, willing themselves to live another day. Nailer is getting too big for his work as a copper stripper who works on wrecked ships, but he doesn’t want to let his friends down as he knows if he stops his work he and his crew will be struggling to survive. Later on in the story, Nailer finds a young and wealthy girl that was the only survivor from a terrible hurricane that happened to a ship. He is torn apart as to which road he should take, whether it is to go with the girl or to stick with his crew and help them survive.

‘Ship Breaker’ is very interesting and in some places gripping and suspenseful. This book was really good because of its plot, having mysterious characters and its brilliant way of describing the experiences the characters are having. The book has a confusing but exciting start because you can’t really tell where it is going until the characters start to get involved. During the middle of the book it was so gripping that I didn’t want to put it down because there was something that made your heart race from page to page. It is a really good book for readers around 12-15 because it involves romance, suspense, thrill, survival and family.

In conclusion, this book was amazing and a really good experience to read. I recommend people to read it from the ages of 12-15 who are interested in a mysterious book that can take them places they thought they would never go. I rate this book a Four out of Five stars.

Olivia H., Year 8