The Drowned Cities

Soldier boys emerged from the darkness. Guns gleamed dully. Bullet bandoliers and scars draped their bare chests. Ugly brands scored their faces. She knew why these soldier boys had come. She knew what they sought, and she knew, too, that if they found it, her best friend would surely die.

In a dark future America where violence, terror, and grief touch everyone, young refugees Mahlia and Mouse have managed to leave behind the war-torn lands of the Drowned Cities by escaping into the jungle outskirts. But when they discover a wounded half-man–a bioengineered war beast named Tool–who is being hunted by a vengeful band of soldiers, their fragile existence quickly collapses. One is taken prisoner by merciless soldier boys, and the other is faced with an impossible decision: Risk everything to save a friend, or flee to a place where freedom might finally be possible.

This thrilling companion to Paolo Bacigalupi’s highly acclaimed Ship Breaker is a haunting and powerful story of loyalty, survival, and heart-pounding adventure.

• A 2012 Kirkus Reviews Best of YA BookA 2012 VOYA Perfect Ten BookA 2012 Los Angeles Times Book Prize FinalistA 2012 Los Angeles Public Library Best Teen BookA 2013 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults BookA 2013 CBC at Bank Street College Best Children's Books of the Year BookA 2013 Capitol Choices Noteworthy Titles for Children and Teens Book
  A Junior Library Guild SelectionA 2014 Tennessee Volunteer Book Award Nominee
• "Suzanne Collins may have put dystopian literature on the YA map with 'The Hunger Games'... but Bacigalupi is one of the genre's masters, employing inventively terrifying details in equally imaginative story lines."
  Los Angeles Times
• * "Beautifully written, filled with high-octane action, and featuring badly damaged but fascinating and endearing characters, this fine novel tops its predecessor and can only increase the author's already strong reputation."
  Publishers Weekly, starred review
• * "The novel's greatest success lies in the creation of a world that is so real, the grit and decay of war and ruin will lay thick on the minds of readers long after the final page. The narrative, however, is equally well crafted.... Breathtaking."
  Kirkus Reviews, starred review
• * "Bacigalupi writes with a furious energy that makes this brilliant depiction of an all-too-believable future impossible to forget. A story that will resonate beyond its final page."
  Booklist, starred review
• * "Bacigalupi's intense, action-filled novel is a heartbreaking and powerfully moving portrait of individual resiliency amidst extreme circumstances that rivals, if not surpasses, the excellence of its predecessor."
  The Horn Book, starred review
• * "Bacigalupi brings to life a post-apocalyptic America that thrills the mind."
  VOYA, starred review
• "A compelling read, this engaging book does not glorify war and violence, but shows its true nature."
  School Library Journal
• "A new Paolo Bacigalupi novel is reason to celebrate--no matter how old you are."
  The Associated Press