Dry

Photo by Amazon

Dry
By Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
Narrated by Jenni Barber, Noah Galvin, Michael Crouch, Kivlighan De Montebello, Neal Shusterman, and Jarrod Shusterman

A librarian friend recommended it to me, telling me that the premise of this book is the story of a close and personal look at what might happen if Southern California actually did run out of water.    "That sounds awesome," I responded excitedly, but she just looked at me and said, after a pause, "people die."  Armed with only this knowledge, I suggested it to my book club, and we read it in September 2019.

People die without water; this is general knowledge.  We know this.  However, we--and by we, I'm talking about those of us who live here in SoCal--waste it excessively, especially for people who live in a desert.  We take long showers.  We run the water while we brush our teeth.  I used to work with a guy who would leave the sink water running in the bathroom so whoever stood outside couldn't hear him do his business.

Alyssa and her brother Garett also live in Southern California--not too far from me.  In their universe, the Tap Out--water shortage--began a while back, but suddenly, the water just does not turn on anymore.

This is an adventure told through the voices of many characters that all fuse seamlessly to create a story, of survival--and sometimes not.  What does happen when there's no water left?  The Shusterman's (Shustermen?) hypothesis gives us a possible answer.

The climax of the story was so horrifying and stressful for me that I found myself frantically texting the friend who recommended the book while I listened just so I wasn't alone (She was super present and patient with me, probably because she understood).  I prefer stories that are neatly wrapped up at the end, and this one did not disappoint; all my questions were answered.

I read this audiobook on Libro.fm.  I found the cast to be believable as the characters they voiced.

Dry left me terrified and exhausted, and like Garret, marveling at the gift of turning on and off the water faucet and having water come out here in the South Bay of Los Angeles.  I have personally started a collection of "just in case" items, for an emergency--and that includes glass bottles of water.

I would recommend this to anyone who lives in a desert--especially Southern California--and anyone who enjoys stories of survival.