Ship Breaker (2010) is a Pulitzer Prize-finalist young adult dystopian novel by Paolo Bacigalupi, set in a post-climate-collapse Gulf Coast where scavengers strip rusted oil tankers for parts. The story follows Nailer, a teenage “ship breaker” who risks his life crawling through ducts to salvage copper wire, until he discovers a wrecked luxury clipper ship—and its sole survivor, a wealthy heiress named Nita. Their alliance sparks a dangerous chase across toxic seas, forcing Nailer to confront brutal corporate warlords, his abusive father, and his own loyalty to his found-family crew.
Bacigalupi’s world is viscerally gritty—think genetically engineered “half-men” (human-animal hybrids), hurricane-ravaged slums, and oil-drenched capitalism gone mad. The novel won the Michael L. Printz Award and Locus YA Best Book, praised for its environmental urgency and unflinching class commentary.
For similar reads, try The Drowned Cities (2012), Bacigalupi’s companion novel, or Railsea (2012) by China Miéville for another eco-punk adventure.
