Dry by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

From Goodreads,

"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."

Goodreads - Dry

I am guilty of not drinking nearly enough water.  My boyfriend is constantly telling me that I'm not drinking enough water and that I need to stop drinking Pepsi or apple juice or milk.  And I have to admit he's right.  I need to drink more water.  While reading this book I had a constant longing for a cold glass of water. 

This book takes place at the exact moment that the taps go dry in California.  Everything is fine until people start to panic and fight for every precious drop of water.  Over the course of the book we meet Alyssa and her brother Garrett, their next door neighbor Kelton, Jacqui the street smart girl, and the rich boy Henry.  The five stories intertwine quickly as they try to survive the great tap out.  The biggest question is if they will find water or if they will die trying.

This book was not what I was expecting, but it was honestly everything that I needed.  I live in Arkansas where running out of water is a foreign concept.  There has never been a time in my life where I have worried where my next sip of water would come from.  We don't have to conserve water by limiting showers, not filling swimming pools, or not watering our plants and yard.  This isn't a life I'm familiar with.  So naturally, this book was quite the eye opener.  I can't even imagine having to live like the residents of California during a drought or even worse, during a time where there is absolutely no water running through the tap.  I feel like this book definitely educated me on water crises.  You never imagine that a resource like water would disappear, but it clearly happened in this book.  Not only did this book paint a picture of drinkable water becoming scarce, but it showed the true human nature of people.  When it came down to it people were only worried about themselves and their immediate family.  People were not worried about their neighbors or their friends.  They were only worried about themselves.  I think this book gives a pretty accurate picture as to what would happen in a water crisis like this. 

One thing that I found interesting was the way the story was written.  The book was broken into parts, and in each part the story was told by alternating points of view from Alyssa, Kelton, Jacqui, or Henry.  There were also snapshots that showed what was happening elsewhere that would eventually come into play with the main characters.  I still don't know how to feel about this story structure.  I typically frown on books that have varying points of view because I feel the story is just incomplete and scattered.  This book didn't leave me with that feeling.  This book was written so that when one character concluded their part of the story the next person picked up where it was left off.  I didn't feel like I missed information or events because each character continued the story, just from their point of view.  I feel like the snapshots in the story were not needed.  They gave minor points of view from characters that would never have a large part in the story.  I felt like it was wasted information and that it could have easily been omitted.

Overall, this book was extremely well written and informative.  I got a different perspective of life in California and the challenges they can and do face.  This book is perfect for young adults.  After reading the acknowledgements I realized this book is to be turned into a movie.  I couldn't find much information about the movie, but I am definitely excited to see it.  I give this book a solid 5 stars.