Description:

About this item:

“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 California drought escalates to catastrophic proportions, one teen is forced to make life and death decisions for her family in this harrowing story of survival from New York Times bestselling author Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman.

The drought—or the Tap-Out, as everyone calls it—has been going on for a while now. Everyone’s lives have become an endless list of don’ts: don’t water the lawn, don’t fill up your pool, don’t take long showers.

Until the taps run dry.

Suddenly, Alyssa’s quiet suburban street spirals into a warzone of desperation; neighbors and families turned against each other on the hunt for water. And when her parents don’t return and her life—and the life of her brother—is threatened, Alyssa has to make impossible choices if she’s going to survive.

Review

* "No one does doom like Neal Shusterman... He and his debut novelist son have crafted a world of dark thirst and fiery desperation, which, despite tendrils of hope that thread through the conclusion, feels alarmingly near to our future." ― Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW

* "The authors do not hold back... Lovers of horror action fiction will feel right at home with this terrifyingly realistic story of our tenuous relationship with the environment and of the resilience of the human spirit in the face of desperate situations." ― Booklist, STARRED REVIEW

* "The palpable desperation that pervades the plot as it thunders toward the ending feels true, giving it a chilling air of inevitability... a study of how extreme circumstances can bring out people’s capacity for both panic and predation, ingenuity and altruism." ― Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW

This superb mini-apocalyptic cautionary tale is sure to please all readers ― School Library Connection

Dry could play out tomorrow morning... With strong characterizations, a timely topic, and decisions to debate at every turn, this is a prime candidate for YA book clubs. ― BCCB

The Shustermans challenge readers... This survival tale is packed with themes and allegories that will attract fans of literary YA as well as readers seeking a good adventure. ― School Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW

About the Author

Neal Shusterman is the New York Times bestselling author of more than thirty award-winning books for children, teens, and adults, including the Unwind dystology, the Skinjacker trilogy, Downsiders, and Challenger Deep, which won the National Book Award. Scythe, the first book in his series Arc of a Scythe is a Michael L. Printz Honor Book. He also writes screenplays for motion pictures and television shows. Neal is the father of four, all of whom are talented writers and artists themselves. Visit Neal at StoryMan.com and Facebook.com/NealShusterman.

Jarrod Shusterman is the New York Times bestselling coauthor of the novel Dry, which he is adapting for a major Hollywood film studio with National Book Award winner Neal Shusterman. He is also the coauthor of the accoladed novel Roxy. His books have all received critical acclaim and multiple starred reviews. Jarrod wrote his most recent title, Retro, with Sofía Lapuente, and together, they teach a course on writing at UCLA. They are partners in every sense of the word, with love and multiculturalism as an ethos—living between Madrid, Spain, and Los Angeles. If they are not working, it means they’re eating. For behind-the-scenes author content and fun videos, follow them on Instagram and TikTok @SofiandJarrod.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Day One
SNAPSHOT: JOHN WAYNE
Dalton loves the way planes take off from John Wayne Airport. It’s a real trip. They call it a “modified noise abatement takeoff,” and it was specifically implemented to spare Newport Beach millionaires from having to deal with airport noise. Basically, the plane powers up on the runway with its brakes on, then accelerates at full force into a ridiculously steep takeoff, followed ten seconds later by a sudden leveling off and throttling down of the engines, which sounds, to the uninitiated, like engine failure, causing at least one person on every flight to gasp, or even scream in panic. The plane then coasts out over the back bay, Balboa Island, and the Newport Peninsula before the pilot pushes the engines back to full and resumes the climb-out.

“They oughta call it John Glenn instead of John Wayne,” Dalton once said—because taking off from there was the closest most people would ever get to blasting off into space.

Dalton and his younger sister are regular flyers, visiting their dad, who lives up in Portland, a few times a year—Christmas, Easter, most of the summer, and every other Thanksgiving. Today, however, it’s not just the two of them traveling north. Their mother is coming, too.

“If your dad won’t put me up, I’ll be happy to stay in a hotel,” she says.

“He won’t make you do that,” Dalton tells her, but she doesn’t seem too sure.

A few years back, Dalton’s mom had left him for a loser with nice pecs and a soul patch, who she subsequently kicked to the curb a year later. Live and learn. Anyway, when the marriage went south, his dad went north.

“You understand this is not about your father and me getting back together,” she tells Dalton and his sister, but for kids of divorce, hope springs eternal.

Within minutes of the Tap-Out, his mom had gone online and bought three overpriced tickets on Alaska Air—one of the few airlines that flies nonstop to Portland on a plane that you didn’t have to get out and push.

“Last three tickets,” she told them triumphantly. “You’ve got an hour to pack. Carry-ons only.”

The trip to the airport is bumper-to-bumper. What should be a fifteen-minute ride takes almost an hour.

The parking situation at John Wayne is the first indication that there’s going to be turbulence up ahead. All but one parking structure says FULL. They get one of the last remaining spaces at the far end of the last lot. As they make their way to the terminal, Dalton notes all the cars circling, like it’s a huge game of musical chairs, with no chairs left.

The TSA checkpoint is a madhouse, which never happens here.

“A lot a people are going on vacation,” Dalton’s seven-year-old sister, Sarah, says.

“Yes, honey,” their mom responds absently.

“Where do you think they’re going?”

Their mom sighs, too stressed to continue humoring her, so Dalton looks at the boards, and takes up the slack. “Cabo San Lucas,” he says. “Denver, Dallas, Chicago…”

“My friend Gigi’s from Chicago.”

The security guy double takes on Dalton’s passport, because his hair is brown in the photo, but now it’s bleached blond.

“You sure this is you?”

“Last time I checked,” Dalton responds.

The humorless TSA guy lets them get into the slow-moving crawl to the metal detector, which has issues with his facial rings. Finally they make it through security with just five minutes until boarding starts. Mom is relieved.

“Okay,” she says. “We’re here. We haven’t lost anyone. No missing fingers or toes.”

“I’m thirsty,” Sarah says, but Dalton has already noticed that the concessions they passed all had NO WATER signs up.

“There’ll be something to drink on the plane,” their mother says.

Dalton thinks that might actually be true. After all, these planes all came from somewhere else. And he is getting a bit thirsty himself.

Then, just as they’re about to start boarding, the gate agent comes on the loudspeaker and makes an announcement.

“Unfortunately, we’re oversold on this flight,” she says. “We’re asking for volunteers with flexible travel plans who are willing to take a later flight.”

Sarah tugs her mother’s arm. “Mommy, volunteer!”

“Not this time, baby.”

Dalton grins. Dad always tells them to volunteer because they give away hundreds of dollars in travel vouchers, which is always worth the inconvenience. But not today. Today it’s all about getting out. Which is why they have trouble getting volunteers. The price of the vouchers goes from two hundred dollars to three hundred to five hundred dollars, and still no one is willing to surrender their ticket.

Finally the gate agent gives up. She gets on the loudspeaker, calling the names of the last people to buy tickets. Dalton, Sarah, and their mother. Dalton feels a twisting in the pit of his stomach.

“I’m sorry,” says the gate agent, not sounding sorry at all, “but as the last to purchase, I’m obliged to reschedule you to a later flight.”

Dalton’s mom goes ballistic, and he can’t blame her. This is one time they need to fight the Powers That Be.

“No,” says their mom. “I don’t care what you say! My children and I are getting on that plane!”

“You’ll each receive a five-hundred-dollar travel voucher—that’s fifteen hundred dollars,” the agent says, trying to placate them. Their mom will not be bought.

“My children have court-ordered visitation with their father,” she yells. “If you take them off this flight, you’ll be breaking the law, and I’ll sue!” Of course, this isn’t their father’s time with them, but the agent doesn’t know that.

Even so, all the agent does is apologize, and look for later flights. “There’s a flight tonight at five-thirty.… Oh wait, no, that one is full, too.… Let’s see.” She continues to hack away at her computer. “Eight-twenty… no…”

Then Dalton turns to his sister and whispers, “Give her the eyes.”

Their mom had always told both Dalton and Sarah that their big blue eyes could melt anyone into a puddle. Not so much Dalton anymore. At an awkward seventeen, a bunch of facial piercings, a biohazard neck tattoo, and what his father calls “weed-whacked hair,” the general public isn’t melted anymore. Only seventeen-year-old girls. But Sarah still has the magical melting effect on hardened adults. So he lifts her up for the agent to get a good look at her.

“Aw, you’re cute as a button,” she says. Then rips three new tickets from the printer. “Here you go—tomorrow morning at six-thirty. That’s the absolute best I can do.”

So they wait. They don’t leave, because the crowd just grows, and they know they’ll never get back through security. They spend the night sleeping in uncomfortable airport chairs, getting sips of water from anyone who’ll share with them, and there aren’t many.

Then, when morning comes, even with confirmed tickets, there’s no room on the six-thirty flight for them. Or the next one. Or the next one.

And they can’t get tickets to flights to other places.

And the airport gets so crowded that extra police are brought in to keep the peace.

And with traffic jams everywhere, trucks with jet fuel can’t get to the airport.

And Dalton, his mother, and sister have to face the fact that they won’t be blasting off anywhere.

Review:

4.9 out of 5

98.18% of customers are satisfied

5.0 out of 5 stars Near-Future of the Water Shortage

T. · September 14, 2024

Neal Shusterman, author of Scythe and Thunderhead, and his son, Jarrod, come together to write Dry, a book that dives into a potential future due to California’s drought. If you look at the publication date of this blood entry, you might notice that only a few days ago here in California there was a massive downpour of rain. It was ironically funny that I was sitting in a classroom reading Dry while the water got so high it was literally pooling into the room through the door. After some discussion with friends, it sounds like enough rain came down and was collected to keep California going for years to come. But that’s not to say that the water will last forever. Many say the next world war might be over a natural resource, like clean, safe drinking water. While this book covers only the issue of California’s drought and a potential future the state might come to see in the near years to come, think about the catastrophe of just the level of state shown in this novel, and then bring it out to a global perspective. What is it was no longer just California that suffered from running out of clean, safe drinking water?One of the things I loved most about this book was the setting. It’s set in Orange County, California, and many of the high schools and other main structures are something I drive by often, or at least know about. This book really resonated with me in a visual way, and because of the closeness to my own home, made this event feel all the more real. When I was telling a friend about this book, when we were at Costco of all places, he was like, “Wait, when is this Tap-out happening?” I’m pretty sure I expressed that I was talking about a book, but he had pointed out the number of people purchasing water for the day, which brought flashes back from the scene at the beginning of the book when the taps first shut off: everyone had the idea to hit Costco and buy out all of their water, beverages, and ice!When we first start this book, we are in the perspective of Alyssa, seeing through her eyes first-hand what the shut-off of the water sounds like, feels like, and what emotions and fears that brings to her and her family. We are soon introduced to her strange waiting-for-the-apocalypse neighbor, Kelton. His family has their own electric grid, septic system, water reserve, and even a secret shelter in the woods called the Bug-Out, as if they were just biding their time for some catastrophic event to happen, knowing they are the one’s who are prepared to survive.Eventually, things take a turn for the worst when Alyssa’s parents go to the beach for potential sea-filtered water, along with a huge portion of the population. When they don’t return, Alyssa and her little brother, Garrett, become worried and aim to investigate. What they find at the beach is a bunch of discarded cell phone, destroyed machines, and even a potential body in the ocean. They cannot know what happened, but they can go find Alyssa’s uncle for help and advice.Along the way, they also meet Jacqui, an incredibly book-smart girl who appears street smart, but really just has a head-strong attitude. The four make their way in a stolen car to Alyssa’s uncle’s house, for he went to stay with his girlfriend in a gated community rumored to still have some water left. It’s eerily quiet there, and when they realize everyone is sick, or possibly even dead from contaminated water, they know it’s time to high-tail it out of there, but not without Uncle Basil’s truck, which he traded to some rich kid for a box of AguaViva, a bottled water company that the boy’s family owns.Henry, thinking he has one box of water left, doesn’t really know what the world of Orange County, California looks like outside the comfort of his own home. But his last box isn’t water; it’s a bunch of AguaViva brochures. But the others don’t know that. If he can hitch a ride with them, find a leadership position within their circle, and keep his secret hidden, perhaps he has a chance at survival too.As the characters grow more and more dehydrated, their chances of survival dwindle. Can working together even help them at this point?One of the things I love about the novel is the structure. Every so often, we get “Snapshots” of random people and the events surrounding them in different areas of Orange County, such at the Huntington Beach Power Plant, the John Wayne Airport, and the range County Water District. There’s so much going on with other people: trying to escape the state by car or plane (which is futile, considering the population density), seeking water by any means necessary as an act of survival, becoming on edge and fearing the worst of people (rather than the best), and ultimately the county looks like a zombie apocalypse happened. And in a way, it did. People act very differently when they are dehydrated enough that their lives might be at risk, and these “water-zombies” are a very real possibility, and do exist when the body does not get what it needs for survival.Another aspect I love about Shusterman’s books is that there is often a Barnes & Noble edition that comes with chapter-by-chapter annotations in the back of the books. While those of Dry feel a bit more about the choices made for the plot and characters (as opposed to Thunderhead, which revolves around political ideas as well), it is still always very interesting and fun to see why an author made the choice they did for their book. I like to read them after I finish each chapter, but be warned, there are some spoiler bits if you do that, so if you don’t want spoilers, save the annotations for after you finish the novel!This is an excellent novel that highlights a number of contemporary issues in California, that can also be relatable to the country, and world. This would make for an excellent classroom book for a current event or dystopian unit, as well as just to have for students to be able to access, because this fantastic book reverberates magnitudes about our society and humanity.P.S. Good news, everyone! The premise of Dry is so thrilling that a number of movie producers bid for the rights to the movie, with Paramount ultimately winning, and paying a nice sum for Neal and Jarrod to even write the script. This will be an utterly amazing film, and I can’t wait!

5.0 out of 5 stars Good read

l.s. · September 24, 2024

I originally bought this book for my 12 year old son for his 7th grade summer reading list. Recommend by teachers. I decided to read it myself, and I think it was a good read. Definitely worth reading if you have some free time.

4.0 out of 5 stars YA Climate Change Adventure

J.R.G. · May 13, 2023

I’m not sure if Dry is the very first YA novel focused on the potential chaos caused by a massive drought (here called the “Tap-Out” and set in southern California), but it’s definitely a well-written and engaging contribution to this niche subgenre.The protagonist Alyssa, a high school student, narrates the majority of the novel, sharing storytelling duties with Kelton—a neighbor and classmate whose family are survivalists, Jacqui—a brassy and intelligent rogue, and Henry—a haughty weasel who serves as the villain. Henry’s villainy, however, pales in comparison to the devastating effects of the drought and the reprehensible behavior it elicits from otherwise mild-mannered people.Devoid of many of the tropes that characterize contemporary YA, Dry chugs along for the first 300 pages or so, after which the narrative loses steam during what should have been the most harrowing part of the story. Nevertheless, it’s a worthwhile read.

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing 🤩

N.F. · October 4, 2024

This book was so good I wish I could read it for the first time again. Finished in a week with how much I wanted to just sit and read!

5.0 out of 5 stars A realistic look at the world running out of water

T. · November 20, 2018

If there was ever a book that inspired me to stock up on water, this is the book. This was so realistic and really resonated with me. Neil Shusterman is really good about adding just the right amount of gritty details to make the story line pop out of the page. Having co-wrote this with his son, Neil Shusterman explores a potentially fatal future that will effect everyone.This book actually starts off with the acknowledgements, but this is done with good reason. This first line is dedicated to people who are fighting the effects of global warming. The water drought (also called the Tap-Out) that takes place in the book is never mentioned in the main story to be a direct result of global warming; but including it in the acknowledgements at the very beginning is a strong insinuation to how the world could potentially run out of water. This book had a "not in the too distant future" feel to it which made everything in the book feel both relevant and urgent.This book is told from multiple perspectives in alternating chapters, with a few news articles and external points of view also inserted to give a broader picture of what is happening outside the group we are following. The external media added a much broader dimension to what we saw and makes you realize how widespread the issue actually is. The multiple perspective are told by Alyssa (the average girl who lives in a middle class neighborhood) , Garret (Alyssa's little brother), Kelton (next door neighbor to Alyssa and Garret and also has a father who has been planning for Armageddon for years), Jacqui (a homeless girl who is really rough around the edges and used to surviving on her own) and Henry (a rich boy trying to capitalized off of everyone's lack of water). I loved how the multiple view points really added to the dimensions to the story and allowed us a glimpse into every socioeconomic status and how each were handing the Tap-Out in their own way.This story wasn't nonstop anarchy but it did convey how different people become when they are desperate to survive. People you thought you knew and people who are docile suddenly become aggressive strangers who are willing to do anything to make sure they don't die. We also find that a person's character is measured in desperate times. It was an interesting dynamic as it also assisted with character development and pushed some characters to become better people and others to do things they never thought they were capable of.I loved this story. I was less in love with this than I was with Scythe (also by Neil Shusterman), but it was more of a content issue than a quality issue. Dry was more of an apocalyptic contemporary whereas Scythe was more of a science fiction dystopian. Both were very enjoyable and very well written and I do highly recommend Dry. Dry was an amazing and very well constructed look at what happens when a renewable resource, like water becomes scarce. This was hard hitting and felt so realistic.

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Read

A.H. · December 25, 2023

I enjoyed this book very much! Very realistic and even stressful at times!

C. · February 12, 2024

I loved it!

C. · December 22, 2023

A great book. I could not put it down. As a non-native speaker, I had no problems understanding the words. I highly recommend it and I also recommend keeping a water bottle nearby because you will be thirsty as hell. This book also could be a great addition to the EFL classroom☺️

Nice

K. · March 19, 2021

Good ...useful for students

Dry

S.B. · October 4, 2020

Encuentro que la trama engancha desde el principio, no se hace pesada y al mismo tiempo te hace reflexionar. Que más se puede pedir?

3 days to animal

L.P. · August 30, 2020

How would we all behave and what would we be capable of doing facing a total water deficiency? An intriguing and scary story.

Visit the Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers Store

Dry

Name: Dry
Brand: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
SKU: U1481481975
Price: 7.18 BHD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.5 (11 reviews)

4.5

^BHD7¹⁷⁸

Quantity:

Order today to get by

Free delivery on orders over BHD 20

Return and refund policies

Product origin: United States

Electrical items shipped from the US are by default considered to be 120v, unless stated otherwise in the product description. Contact Bolo support for voltage information of specific products. A step-up transformer is required to convert from 120v to 240v. All heating electrical items of 120v will be automatically cancelled.

All product information listed on the site are from 3rd party sources, including images and reviews. bolo.bh is not liable for any claims or promotions mentioned on the product description or images with textual content. For detailed product information, please contact the manufacturer or Bolo support by logging into your account. Unless stated otherwise during checkout, all import taxes and duty are included in the price mentioned on the product page. bolo.bh follows the rules and regulations of sale in Bahrain and will cancel items in an order that are illegal for sale in Bahrain. We take all the necessary steps to ensure only products for sale in Bahrain are displayed. Product stock and delivery estimate may change with the seller even after placing the order. All items are shipped by air and items marked “Dangerous Goods (DG)” by the IATA will be cancelled from orders. We strive to process your order as soon as it is finalized.

Similar items from “Literature & Fiction”

Books

Teen & Young Adult

Literature & Fiction

Description:

Editorial Reviews

Review

About the Author

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Review:

Dry

More from this brand

Similar items from “Literature & Fiction”

Description:

Editorial Reviews

Review

About the Author

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Review:

Dry

Shipping Policies

Voltage Disclaimer

Product Disclaimer

More from this brand

Similar items from “Literature & Fiction”