Ship Breaker is about family. It is about a society where your job is your family. You belong to a "crew" and take care of each other like brothers and sisters, and parents. Like any family they have good members and bad, except this family can change a lot faster and more irrevocably than a blood family.
I have been blessed that I have several "families" in my life. I have my mother's side of the family (I have only infrequent contact with my father's family). I have two "second moms" and their eldest daughters who have been my oldest friends. And, I have my small circle of friends (mostly from middle/high school) who are always there when I need them most. I would say these are my three "crews" and that I was blessed in the same way Nailer was that I found and was accepted by these amazing people. In the future, I hope to have a "crew" from my professional career, including professors, fellow teachering professionals, and possibly even students and parents.
Nailer went through a science fiction adventure but as Joseph Campbell would point out, we can all relate to the the archetypal journey of growth and discovery.
I enjoyed your bookcast and the intriguing definition of crew. Will definitely read this book!
ReplyDeleteYes, Shannon. This is your text-to-self connection. I think relating your "families" to Nailer's crew helps you understand and connect with the book better. And I'm sure you did as you read. It's just that we're trying to make it an intentional connection through reflection so that we understand its importance and how we might create the conditions for teen readers to make those important connections.
ReplyDeleteThanks for making the Joseph Campbell connection, too.