By Robert Kelly
Contact Email: rkelly2@gmail.com
Ship Breaker, the National Book Award nominee for adolescent literature, is a fast, action-filled thriller set in the near future. It has inspired numerous You Tube videos for “book trailers” and a couple of “action films” put together by middle school kids re-creating scenes from the book. Take a look:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35JxCOo0sUY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJt_gL6r8p0
Perhaps the next Steven Spielberg? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybM29VHoZvE
We are organizing a father/son book club to read this book and then meet together in late January. Yes, I know, hanging out with Dad in the library is probably the last thing your 12, 13 or 14 year old son would like to do on a weekday night (or any night)! But as a father, I would like to grab any opportunity I can before my son drifts off into his independent teenage orbit, and share in the adventure and fun of a good book.
Please join me, and the other dads that have already signed up.
So, what book are we reading? Ship Breaker is written Paolo Bacigalupi. It is a powerful book choice for this age level that covers the nature of trust, family, fate and luck from the thematic underpinnings of Ship Breaker’s heady adventures.
Here is the link to the book information on Amazon. It can be ordered in paperback or downloaded on the Kindle or iPad: https://www.amazon.com/Ship-Breaker-Paolo-Bacigalupi/dp/0316056197/ref=tmm_pap_title_0
The idea is that fathers and sons can read the book at home over the holidays (it’s a fast read) and then we will gather at school for a casual evening that will include conversation about the book, as well as refreshments.
If you are interested in joining us, please send me an email at rkelly2@gmail.com, and I can send you more detailed information.
PS. The American news show, 60 Minutes, did a segment on some of the real ship breakers in Bangladesh: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ia7xnmcQbNg