Dry by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman. Unabridged audiobook on nine compact discs. ~11 hours. Performed by the authors, Jenni Barber, Noah Galvin, Michael Crouch, Kivilighan de Montebello and Candace Thaxton. Simon & Schuster Audio, 2018. 9781508263081. (Review of audio cd borrowed from public library. Own hc.)
Teen Tuesday features Dry by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman. This gripping novel is told in present tense from multiple perspectives and takes place in a scarily possible near future in southern California. Water shortages have caused farms to fail and lawns and pools to go dry; but one day, without warning, it stops flowing. At first, residents take it in stride and pile into their cars for a trip to Costco. But when seemingly plentiful cartons of bottled water can't be obtained, ordinary people, when desperate do despicable things. And, that is only the beginning. Not only will reading this make you terribly thirsty, you may want to start hoarding bottles of water the way that the book, Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer made the reader want to stock up on canned goods. As the copy asks, what would you do for the last drop of water?
This was a seat-of-your-pants read! One which, if you are reading with your eyes, you might read in one tense sitting. If you are reading with your ears, as I was, it made a marathon raking session fly by. The audio performances were fantastic. The five points-of-view weave seamlessly with each other and occasional "snapshots," narrated by the authors. Boy, does Michael Crouch have that creepy guy vibe nailed.
Dry is a must-read! Recommend it to everyone possible. Definitely hand it to teens to love apocalyptic stories like Pfeffer's Life as We Knew It series. It's timely and oh so possible.
