Literary Feast Discussion: Ship Breaker (Chapters Seven to Twelve)

Well friends, the eagle-eyed among you will note that it is several days past when we planned on posting. Our illustrious leader, Shel, has been going quietly insane in the confines of her condo (ooh, alliteration!) whilst she struggles to complete her education by... May? Are you trying to finish by May, sweetie? I personally have no excuse whatsoever save for the fact that Library School is kicking my butt -- who on earth decided that statistics were necessary for doing research!?

But anyway. I digress.

On to Ship Breaker! Have you been enjoying it so far, few but dear readers? Is it everything you would hope for and more, in a Printz winner?

Shel: What do you think of Lucky Strike? Good guy or villain? Somewhere in between?

Monica: Somewhere in between, for sure. I don't think he's being painted as a villain, necessarily, but he's definitely scheme-y enough to not be good. Which, honestly, is probably more authentic. Just because you suddenly become wealthy doesn't mean you turn evil... but neither does it mean you are all philanthropic, either. He's obviously keeping what's his, and trying to add to it.

Shel: I love how Pima is so dismissive of the new new clothes on the wreckage of the ship. So practical.

Monica: But she does like the pretties, give the girl some credit.

Shel: I also think Pima's reaction to the realization that the supposed dead girl is not so dead: "That's some creepy shit," she said (p. 95). Yes, I agree. But imagine how creepy it is for the supposed dead girl, waking up to two people trying to cut off your fingers and discussing your state as a dead person.

Monica: Um, yes? Yes. The part where they were hauling on her hand and trying to just wiggle the rings off was gross enough. When they actually decided to just hack off her fingers, I felt vaguely like throwing up.....

Shel: I really like that Dead Girl/Lucky Girl/Whatever her real name will be... Nita has some real skills. She's not just some helpless damsel. I'm pretty serious now about wanting her perspective of this story. You hear that, Bacigalupi? Fan fiction writers?

Monica: YES! Fanfiction writers will carry her plot, even if the book fails miserably....

Shel: Although, all of this "blood with blood" stuff is just too unhygienic for my liking. There have got to be blood born diseases in this world. Nita TELL THEM!

Monica: I think they're more worried about how they don't have water. ;)

That's it for now, kids! Join us next time (I'm going to throw out Next Saturday as a date, and cross my fingers that we make the deadline) for a discussion of chapters thirteen through nineteen. As always, feel free to toss out your own thoughts in the comment section!