DRY by Neal Shusterman

Neal Shusterman is not one to shy away from scary but relevant topics, and Dry (co-written with his son, Jarrod) is no exception to that. I read Unwind not too long ago, and I was and still am disturbed by it (and also thought it was super well written). I feel the same way about Dry as I did about Unwind. In this novel, a massive drought has come to California,  but instead of helping the people there, the states with access to water turn their backs on them. The story is told through multiple points of view of different teens, as their situation becomes very quickly dire as people run out of water. People in a short period of time go from being civilized and calm to “water zombies”, as they become more and more dehydrated. As climate change is a scary reality, this story is all the more real-seeming and relevant.

I think this book will get onto a lot of recommended reading lists, especially for high school students. A mature middle schooler would definitely be able to handle it as well. Thought provoking, relevant, scary in a very realistic way – Dry is another one of Neal Shusterman’s hits.