The Water Wars

Cameron Stracher

I won't lie and say that that great cover wasn't the deciding factor on buying this book (well, that and the fact that it was only $2.99 to purchase on my nookcolor).  But really, this is a great book.  Those who enjoyed The Hunger Games, pay attention.

In the future, there is a water shortage and the world has changed significantly.  Nations war with one another for water, governments hoarding it, damming rivers and sucking moisture from clouds.  In a reorganized United States, Vera lives with her brother Will, her father and ailing mother, just scraping by, until she meets a mysterious boy Kai, whom she grows very close to.  Kai's family has access to water, and it turns out that he's a very important figure in the water wars, as he has some natural abilities to locate water.  When Kai is kidnapped, Vera and Will vow to track him down, thus embarking on a journey that will take them face-to-face with many sides of this immense war being fought over the world's water supply, making new friends along the way.

The romance between Vera and Kai is admittedly a little lackluster, but this story more than makes up for that shortcoming with its fast-paced action.  And I mean fast-paced.  This book hardly lets up for a moment, things constantly happening to bring the main characters from one scene to another.  Sometimes events occur perhaps a little too conveniently, but it's hard not to get swept away with the thrilling narrative that Stracher unfolds.  Like in The Hunger Games, there are similar themes of rebellion and the government watching people closely, trying to control them, but if you're up for yet another post-apocalyptic novel, this will entertain and delight from beginning to end.