Dry

By Neal Shusterman

If there were a Venn diagram with H2O by Virginia Bergin and The Arc of a Scythe trilogy by Shusterman, Dry would fall directly in the middle.

The concept for this book is that all of Southern California has been shut off from clean water. The "tap-out' as it is known. All of civilization falls prey to the lack of water available. The ranges of responses from the public are quite vast, but all immense in grander. 

Shifting personalities and viewpoints of the main characters along with snapshots of people around the scene, allow for an incredibly complete understanding of the situation.

The Costco scene gives me PTSD from COVID-19 and hurricane preparations. In literature recently, there seems to be a deep understanding of what happens in grocery stores during disaster. Chilling.

Between Dry and H2O there are many commonalities. My favorite similarity is the nerdy boy 'next door' that is unreasonably prepared for a disaster situation. A meeting of Kelton from Dry and Darius Spratt from H2O would result in the worlds most annoying argument. Both boys are excellent characters for their counterparts, Alyssa and Ruby, respectfully.

I enjoyed the playful interactions between the group of surviving kids. Jacqui is fantastically hard core and a little insane. Henry is one of my favorite characters and I wish his arc ended differently. There is justice in how it ended but I had high hopes for a continued relationship/friendship with the group. Garrett is wise beyond his years and an excellent little brother. The "Of Mice and Men" scene towards the end surprised me when Garrett was aware of everything. Kelton was written well but not my favorite- they can't all be winners. Alyssa's chapters were enjoyable to read because she is probably the character to whom I am most able to relate. 

The last snapshot of Disneyland brought me great joy. There's great truth in seeing society watch the Disney corporation in times of stress/disaster. Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland, and Walt Disney World have all been tasked with reopening after national disasters and people flock to enter the parks as a sign of normalcy and recovery. Praise to Shusterman for his research and Disney knowledge!

Overall, this book was a good read and reminder of what could be (and for Kelton's sake- what to do/not to do).

Happy Reading, Bookworms!