Why read Dry?

Book cover of Dry

Book description

“The authors do not hold back.” —Booklist (starred review)
“The palpable desperation that pervades the plot…feels true, giving it a chilling air of inevitability.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“The Shustermans challenge readers.” —School Library Journal (starred review)
“No one does doom like Neal Shusterman.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

When the…

Explore

Topics

Genres

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

2 authors picked Dry as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Frances Greenslade

Author

This is one of the scarier disaster novels I’ve read, targeted at young adults rather than middle-grade readers.

People die in frighteningly believable ways in this story about a severe water shortage in California. I live in a semi-arid region that has been experiencing more frequent droughts in the last few years, so this novel’s premise felt plausible: the taps are literally turned off.

As well, the various characters’ reactions to the crisis reflected people I know, from preppers to climate changer deniers to those who dig deep and find kindness no matter how bad things get.

From Frances' list on survival for young readers.

Jacqui Castle

Author

Dry, written by father and son duo Neal and Jerrod Shusterman, is a young adult novel that examines a world in which the California drought has reached a tipping point, and the state no longer has any running water. After what has been dubbed the 'tap-out,' our teen protagonist Alyssa must make life or death decisions when her parents leave in search of water, and do not return.

This plot-driven novel soon turns into an apocalyptic road trip that rarely lets up in the tension department as we watch humanity crumble and our protagonist and her friends struggle to…

From Jacqui's list on dystopian reads of the past five years.