Dry

The Tap-Out has been going on for a while.  Every decision is about conserving water from faux turf lawns and rock gardens to timed showers, but life goes on as normal until the day the taps run dry.

At first, Alyssa's mom thinks the dry taps are a result of her father's amateur plumbing efforts, but they quickly realize this is a far-reaching problem.  When her parents don't return from a trip to find water and their cell phones go straight to voicemail, she starts to panic. 

Now she must keep herself and her younger brother Garrett safe and hydrated.  This is the perfect opportunity for next door neighbor Kelton who's harbored a crush on Alyssa for years.  Kelton's father is ex-military and a bit of a paranoid survivalist.  Now that paranoia means they are the only ones in the neighborhood with water. 

The longer the crisis continues, the more chaos reigns.  People quickly turn against each other to escape the California desert and find water.  At every turn, things get worse until Alyssa and her companions are trapped in a real-life horror scenario. 

The story is told from multiple perspectives and intercut with vignettes from other people in the crisis who often reappear in the main narrative.  Aside from adding to the scope of the narrative, these vignettes also highlight the highs and lows of how people react in a crisis.  Some people immediately turn to their own survival while others create a community out of chaos. 

Neal Shusterman and son, Jarrod, do a fabulous job of creating an all too real horrifying view of humanity in the fight for scarce resources.   Once again, Shusterman demonstrates his deep understanding of human nature and invites the reader to imagine how she would react in similar circumstances.  Highly recommended for grades 8 and up for language and an attempted sexual assault.