No one is happy with the water rationing and all of the rules that go along with it. That is until there is no more water in the taps. Now the quiet towns of Southern California are left to fend for themselves and there is a hurricane that is getting all of the media attention. FEMA has dropped the ball and relief is nowhere in sight. Neighbors are turning against neighbors and Alyssa’s parents haven’t returned from a water run. Alyssa is now faced with some survival questions she never thought she would face.

Dry is a stand-alone survivalist story that is all too possible. There is not a war or nuclear accident. There isn’t an alien invasion or unknown disease. It is a water shortage taken to an extreme. The Shustermans have crafted a story with several alternating voices which give the reader a chance to relate to one of the main characters. There is some violence (it is a survivalist story), but it isn’t gory and would be appropriate for middle school readers too. Dry may be about a serious issue, but it is still a fun read and should be considered for most reader’s TBR list.

This book is a very important read for all ages. This is nothing quite like it. Shusterman and Shusterman tell a story that can be a reality sooner than later. I think we can all learn to conserve water and not take it for granted. This book made me incredibly thirsty while reading. I am thankful that the Tap-out hasn’t happened where I live.

Imagine a world in which the California drought has depleted water to the point that water has been rationed to homes. Then, imagine that water suddenly just no longer coming out of your tap? In Dry by Neal And Jarrod Shusterman, a world without access to water is all too real.

This story was so gripping and scary because of the fact that I could see it happening at any point. We don’t take care of the planet we live on and at some point, we’re going to lose a handle on the situation.

I would read anything that Neal Shusterman writes and Dry did not disappoint. It is just another strong example of why he is so well known and loved in the young adult community.

I received this book as an ARC from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review. The opinions are my own.

Dry is an examination of the human condition and the extremes that human nature is pushed to in times of disaster. Set in a plausible time, where California finds itself in the middle of extreme drought. People are dying and they are becoming the worst versions of themselves. Picture a zombie apocalypse, where the zombies just want water, and will go to any length to get it and you have Dry.

The story follows an unlikely pair of teens through the harrowing effects of trying to survive the drought apocalypse. The authors do a wonderful job of showing people in varying stages of desperation and from all walks of life dealing with the drought. Through the interactions of the young protagonists, you will see the “what if” scenarios faced by the people of California.

I always enjoy books that show ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. We, as readers, begin to feel as though we are watching a study in human nature rather than a work of fiction. This easily could have been an adult novel, but I thoroughly enjoyed seeing this scenario played out with teens. We are able to see very raw situations, but because the characters are teens the choices are messy and sometimes juvenile.

I knew from the first few pages I was going to love this book.

Wow, Okay, so it has been a few days since I finished this and I am still thinking about it. This has been one of the most compelling and realistic science fiction books that I have read in a while. I can totally see this scenario happening in the not to distant future. It is scary and not in a good way.

This is very much a plot driven story carried out by some very well thought out characters. The time frame of one week doesn’t allow for a whole lot of growth in the characters but many of them have “Oh shit! Did I really just do that?” moments when they realize that they will do anything to survive. These are all very profound moments and I can relate to all of them. Haven’t we all wondered what we would do in the same circumstances?

There are two characters who tell most of the story, Alyssa and Kelton, but there are some others who they encounter along the way that also have voices to add to the story.

Alyssa is a typical teenager, who is mostly worried about her homework and college when everything starts to go to hell. She has a fierce love for her family and will do anything for them. I really liked her little brother Garrett, he was also a kid with a good heart.
Kelton comes from a family that are survivalists, they are prepared for the worst. But they were not really prepared for what their neighbors will do to survive.
Both of these characters are well written and are the ones that we truly see the disaster and it’s after effects through. I really liked both of them but I think Kelton was the stronger character in the end. He is also the one who explains a lot of what is happening to the society as it breaks down.
The two other characters that join them in their survival journey are Jacqui, a runaway who has been living on the streets for a while and Henry who was sort of the sociopath of the group. I liked Jacqui, she had guts and good survival instincts. Henry, not so much. He was manipulative and looked at his survival as a game that he had to win not matter what happened to everyone else.
There are also sections that are called Snapshots that were little snippets of what was going on in the world outside of our little group of kids. These were important to the story in many ways, and at times were heartbreaking.

As I stated before this is a very plot driven story that is very hard to put down. The story is very topical and very realistic. I don’t want to say much about it, because it is something that you just need to experience for yourself. There are very real passages about how society will break down and what it is like to die of dehydration. I always like to think that society will behave better in the face of catastrophe, but I think I know that it will really come down to chaos and everyone out to save themselves.

This is a compelling story that will stay with you for a very long time.

During a California water drought, Alyssa and her brother Garrett have to scramble for water. After their parents don't return from a water run they go off on a search for water with their neighbor Kelton. As they continue their search they soon realize the lengths people would go to secure water. Dry is best described as a zombie apocalypse novel without the zombies, which is alluded to when the characters call people who become desperately thirsty "Water Zombies." The Shustermans (father Neal and son Jarrod) build a lot of tension in this "world outside our door" dystopian scenario of a water drought. Thie "realistic" situation does lead to slow start as readers move through ordinary scenes of not having water available at the house and going to the store to find some water. Some readers may be turned off by such a slow start. Yet such scenes set up the situation the characters are faced with and why things get so desperate. Once Alyssa and Garrett's parents don't return from a water run is when the story really takes off. The kids are constantly running across the worst aspects of humanity. Along the way the Alyssa, Garrett, and Kelton meet two other kids but they never quite gel as a team as immediate tensions and rivalries immediately develop as everyone wants to be the leader and they don't quite trust each other. Of nothing goes right during their journey and they have to revise their plan several times. Over the course of the five days the novel take place each character discovers what exactly her/his moral boundaries are and it changes from the time readers first meet the character. Overall Dry is a book for those who enjoy dystopian, zombie, and survivor novels as this is a challenging genre bend of those types of novels

This book was just too intense for me. I don't generally have trouble with YA fiction, but this was, I guess, too real and possible of a future. Reading it made me actually feel sick to my stomach. And almost halfway through, I had to give it up because it just became too upsetting. Even though I won't finish this book, I'm glad I read what I did. It was well-written and a fascinating dive into a possible apocalyptic future.

I received this book as an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was not able to download my e-copy of DRY by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman; therefore, I cannot provide a review at the current moment.

Some of the most memorable books I have read in my lifetime ask, what if questions that, when explored, change the way you see the world in just one story. Dry by Neal and Jarrod Shusterman joins a small list of unforgettable books that allows readers to consider how we lose or hang on to our fundamental morality when faced with a life-altering societal change.

This father/son-written novel starts at a point not so foreign to our world today -- a drought in California that's gone from bad to worse. Water restrictions have been in place for a while. Lawns are brown, swimming pools are empty, and the Central Valley, California's agricultural hub, has become a new Dust Bowl.

As the story opens in a Southern California suburb, Alyssa's mother turns on the kitchen faucet, and nothing comes out. Is this the result of yet another plumbing mishap on the part of Alyssa's father? When the family turns on the news, they discover it's the Tap-Out -- there is no more water. Outside of California, the situation is slow to draw attention, as there's a major hurricane wreaking havoc on the East Coast. It doesn't seem so dire at first. Surely, the water will be back soon.

A visit to stock up at Costco that afternoon reveals the panic already setting in. The bottled water shelves are already empty. So are the shelves of Gatorade, juices, and anything else to drink. People are intense and possessive, in competition for the remaining liquids. Alyssa and her brother fill a cart with bagged ice, which they then need to fiercely protect from predatory adults. It's only been a few hours, and already kindness is evaporating along with the water supply.

Alyssa's next door neighbor Kelton and his family are "preppers" -- survivalists in suburbia, with a well-stocked safe room, an armory, and all sorts of defensive perimeter booby traps, as well as a bug-out location in the mountains. But as the neighborhood becomes more and more tense, even this well-guarded and provisioned home won't remain safe for long.

As is typical for a YA adventure/survival tale, we eventually end up with the teens cut off from their parents and forced to make life-or-death decisions if they're to have any chance of survival. Things get violent and scary very quickly. Panic leads to riots and death. Martial law is declared and people are herded into evacuation camps -- but even there, there's only enough water for about a tenth of the people cramming into the centers. As people get more and more desperate, safety becomes even more elusive. Finally, Alyssa and Kelton, joined by two other teens, are on the run with Alyssa's younger brother, seeking hydration and safety from the masses, just looking for a place to hole up and wait out the Tap-Out. It can't last forever... can it?

Of course, the danger isn't only from desperate mob violence and panic. Dehydration sets in quickly. People find all sorts of inventive ways to find sips of water, just trying to stay alive -- but reading about the early and then more advanced stages of dehydration is plenty horrifying.

Dry takes place over little more than a week, and it's fascinating to see how quickly society disintegrates in the face of such a catastrophe. Alyssa's brother Garrett refers to the people so desperate for water that they'll do anything as "water-zombies" -- and it's no surprise that some scenes reminded me of The Walking Dead, as normal life and the moral standards ofr civilization break down in the face of a very basic threat to survival. I was also reminded in many ways of Mike Mullin's Ashfall series, in which a natural disaster of catastrophic proportions leads to this same type of societal collapse.

Dry is a quick, pulse-pounding read -- I finished it over a day and a half of intense reading. I was drawn to this book because I'd just read Scythe and Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman over the summer, and found those books deep and thought-provoking (as well as being outstanding adventures). Dry doesn't provoke the same sort of queries about life and purpose as those books, and it lacks the character development I found so engaging in Scythe. I was absolutely caught up in the story of Dry, but didn't find myself caring deeply about any of the specific characters, who all sort of blended together as the POV shifted from chapter to chapter.

An additional minor quibble is that reasons and consequences are glossed over for the sake of moving the action forward. I would have liked to learn more about the events that led to the Tap-Out, and how the water was able to be restored finally. Reading Dry, we just have to accept these developments as fact, but more detail would have helped make it all seem more real.

I do recommend Dry. It's a scary, intense adventure, as well as a cautionary tale about climate change and the need to pay attention, NOW, before things get so much worse.

Thank you to Edelweiss, Netgalley (yep, I got two approvals for this one), and Simon & Schuster for the advance Kindle copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
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⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 for this 10/2/18 release. A drought goes from bad to worse in southern California, leaving residents helpless and desperate. A group of teens finds themselves acting as unlikely allies as they attempt to leave their homes to find water. The story is packed with action, but I felt like the small snapshots of random characters were unnecessary (until the end). Overall, it will definitely attract readers but isn’t the author’s best work, in my opinion. A couple mature scenes lead me to recommend this to readers in grades 9+.

Well thought out YA with a main character who is great. I think there may be too many side POVs but I think the book works. Brings up excellent discussions of conservation and environmental issues. Terrifying look at a possibly not so distant future.

I couldn't put down Neal Shusterman's newest book, Dry. After reading Unwind and his new Scythe series I couldn't wait to get my hands on this novel. As my family sat on the couch and watched a loud action movie, I was absorbed by the plot of Dry. It hit close to home living in an area of Texas that is often plagued by drought. In the novel, California gets hit by a water crisis (the Tap-Out) and they are cut off from all drinkable water supplies. At first the community is almost in disbelief, thinking that the water problems will be easily resolved. It is that hesitation to prepare for the worst that causes so many people's lives to crumble. Instead of rushing out to stock up on water and supplies immediately, their family waits...expecting the government to take care of them. By the time they actually decide to go out for supplies it is too late, no water anywhere to be purchased. Thirsty and struggling to survive on what they have at home, Alyssa and her brother Garrett are forced to figure out how to survive when their parents don't come home after going out to search for water. They are forced to partner up with their creepy neighbor and a total stranger, leaving the familiarity of their neighborhood behind. Each character is pushed to their limits as they are forced to decide just how far they are willing to go to survive and protect the ones they love. I couldn't put down this thought provoking read. Highly recommended.

I found this book horrifying in a good way. It's a type of fright I'd never thought I'd have and brings to the fore an important discussion of climate change and its ramifications.

Obsessed with this book. Finished in one sitting. For those waiting for the third installment of the Scythe series, this will keep them satisfied!

Scarily plausible story by one of my favorite authors. The premise behind the story is too close to reality, and the chaos that quickly follows the loss of water is so believable. I loved the characters, the alternating narration and the journey for survival. I was kept guessing right up until the end what the outcome would be. Very satisfying book.

No surprise that Neal Shusterman has done it again! This book is amazing and frightfully realistic. The Shustermans take us through a realistic portrayal of the breakdown of society following a Tap-Out of water to Southern California. With intriguing characters, and a dilemma posed to our own society, this book takes you on a ride that doesn't stop and directly posits you into how you would react should this story come to pass.

People in California have lived with the drought for quite a while. There are precautions in place to try to limit the amount of water used but then one day, the taps run dry. The "tap out" as it is called causes unrest as time goes on; people become desperate for water. The story surrounds five teens who fight to survive circumstances they could not imagine. The events that occur are totally believable making the book frightening.. This book is hard to put down, and causes you to question yourself and how you would react in that situation. Great book!

Absolutely chilling. Read it in one setting.

I will remember "Three Days to Animal" for the rest of my life. Another winner from the Shusterman guys!

The book scared me in the best possible way. It is thrilling and exciting but feels very real. With our constantly changing climate it is easy to imagine a major population area running out of water. The characters are all very different in the way they handle the situation and how they look to survive. Most students will find a connection with at least one of the characters. There are a few holes towards the end of the book but they are easy to look over. Nothing that would make someone not want to read the book. It really made me think about the way I consume water and what I would do in that situation. Definitely a book I will purchase and promote in our library collection.