Ship Breaker

81 pages • 2 hours read

Ship Breaker

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2010

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Introduction

Before Reading

During Reading

After Reading

During Reading

Reading Questions & Paired Texts

Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

CHAPTERS 1-5

Reading Check

1. How old is Nailer?

2. What do the people at Bright Sands call it when a scavenger finds very valuable salvage?

3. What force that both Sloth and Sadna believe in does Nailer think cannot be real?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. When Nailer sees the clipper ship with the hydrosails, what does it remind him is true about the world?

2. Why does Nailer think about Jackson Boy when his LED patch begins to fail?

3. When Nailer tells Sloth that he will let her go and not retaliate against her for not helping him if she will at least tell Pima where he is, why does Sloth refuse his offer?

4. Why is Richard angry at Nailer when Nailer gets home from the bonfire?

Paired Resource

“The Appointment in Samarra”

This 2-minute video is a reading of W. Somerset Maugham’s retelling of the very brief story “The Appointment in Samarra.”
This resource relates to the theme of Destiny Versus Free Will.
What did the servant and his employer believe would happen if the servant went to Samarra? What happened instead? Why? What message does this story send about fate and free will? Which characters in Ship Breaker would likely agree with this story’s message?

“Invictus”

This brief, accessible poem by William Ernest Henley expresses the speaker’s belief that their will is unconquerable.
This resource relates to the theme of Destiny Versus Free Will.
What has the speaker’s life been like so far? What is the speaker’s response to these circumstances? What do the poem’s final lines show that the speaker believes about fate and free will? Which characters in Ship Breaker would likely agree with this poem’s message?

CHAPTERS 6-11

Reading Check

1. What is the name of the biotechnical “half-man” that Lucky Strike employs?

2. After Pima tells Nita that Nailer was the one who saved her life, what does Nita nickname herself?

3. What company does Nita’s father lead?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What terrible choice is Nailer faced with when the storm begins?

2. What conflicting beliefs do Pima and Nailer have about Richard?

3. What does the wrecked clipper ship represent to Pima and Nailer?

4. What does the rescue of Nita from the clipper demonstrate about Nailer?

Paired Resource

“Cranes”

This Hwang Sun-won short story focuses on the main character’s conflicting loyalties in the aftermath of the partition of Korea.
This resource relates to the themes of Loyalty Threatening and Aiding Survival and Families of Blood Versus Families of Choice.
What loyalties pull Song-sam in different directions? Which loyalty does he ultimately choose? Why? Why did Tok-chae make the choices he made? What risks are the two men taking in order to remain loyal to friends and family? What risks does Nailer take in order to remain loyal? Which people in his life show him loyalty and would protect him in return?

CHAPTERS 12-15

Reading Check

1. What drug is used to heighten the violent instincts of the half-men?

2. What group of organ harvesters does Richard want to hand Nita over to?

3. Who does Nailer kill when he is defending Sadna?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Nita’s offer to give herself up to Richard’s crew demonstrate how poorly she understands the world of Bright Sands?

2. Why does Richard change his mind about the plan to ransom Nita to her family?

3. Why is Nailer bothered by the praise he receives from Pima and Tool after he kills someone to defend Sadna?

4. How does Nita surprise Nailer when it is time to jump onboard the train?

Paired Resource

“Chosen Family”

This 5-minute video features a performance by Elton John and Rina Sawayama of Sawayama’s song “Chosen Family.”
This resource relates to the themes of Families of Blood Versus Families of Choice and Destiny Versus Free Will.
What is a “chosen family”? What does Sawayama’s song say about what brings chosen families together? How do you think Nailer would react to the ideas in this song? How does the idea of choosing your own family relate to the question of Destiny Versus Free Will? Do you think that Nailer will be successful in leaving his father behind and creating a new kind of family for himself?

CHAPTERS 16-19

Reading Check

1. What resource does Nita tell Nailer her uncle Pyce is secretly developing and refining?

2. What walled city do the wealthy people live in near Orleans II?

3. Who are the half-men the captain sends onshore with Nailer to find Nita and the loyal crew members?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why is Pyce trying to track down Nita?

2. Why is Nita so bothered that Tool is still alive after his patron’s death?

3. Why is Tool suspicious that the Dauntless might not actually be one of Nita’s father’s ships?

4. Why does the captain call Nailer “poor bastard” when Nailer is talking about Nita being like family to him? (252)

Paired Resource

“Casabianca”

This Felicia Hemans classic poem tells the story of a young man’s loyalty and self-sacrifice.
This resource relates to the themes of Families of Blood Versus Families of Choice and Loyalty Threatening and Aiding Survival.
Why does Casabianca remain on the ship despite the grave risk to his life? Does the poem portray his death as noble or foolish? Do you agree? How do you think Nailer would view Casabianca’s actions? Which characters in Ship Breaker are willing to risk their lives because of their loyalty to friends, family, or employers? When you consider whether their choices are noble or foolish, does it matter who they are taking risks for?

CHAPTERS 20-25

Reading Check

1. What do the wealthy people call the half-men?

2. Where is the shallow water where Candless plans to lead the Pole Star to wreck it?

3. Who rescues Nailer when his injured ankle prevents him from swimming to the Dauntless?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What motivates Knot to teach Nailer to read?

2. After Knot tells Nailer that Nita’s father will do anything for her because she is his family, what conclusion does Nailer reach about his own family?

3. How does Nailer’s new skill in reading end up saving his life in the battle against Richard?

4. What advice does Sadna give Nailer about the way he is feeling after having killed his own father?

Recommended Next Reads

The Drowned Cities by Paolo Bacigalupi

This companion novel to Ship Breaker follows young refugees Mahlia and Mouse, who flee into the jungle to escape war in the Drowned Cities. In the jungle, they encounter both Tool and the violent soldiers tracking him.
Shared themes include Families of Blood Versus Families of Choice, Loyalty Threatening and Aiding Survival, and Destiny Versus Free Will.
Shared topics include young-adult fiction, dystopian climate fiction, danger and adventure, sea-level rise, impacts of capitalism, and inequality.

The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline

In this young-adult eco-dystopian novel, Francis flees from the Recruiters, whose job it is to capture Indigenous people so that their bone marrow can be harvested, and finds a new surrogate family who help him survive in post-apocalyptic Canada.
Shared themes include Families of Blood Versus Families of Choice and Loyalty Threatening and Aiding Survival.
Shared topics include young-adult fiction, dystopian climate fiction, danger and adventure, impacts of capitalism, inequality and discrimination, and romance.
The Marrow Thieves on SuperSummary

Reading Questions Answer Key

CHAPTERS 1-5

Reading Check

1. 15 (Chapter 1)

2. A “Lucky Strike” (Chapter 3)

3. The Fates (Chapter 5)

Short Answer

1. When Nailer sees the clean, new clipper ship, he is reminded that not everyone in the world lives like he does; some people live in safety and relative comfort. (Chapter 1)

2. Without the light from his LED patch, Nailer will not be able to find his way through the ship; this makes him think of Jackson Boy, a child worker who died after getting lost in a ship’s ducts. (Chapter 2)

3. Sloth knows that if Nailer survives, he will tell Pima that Sloth refused to help him out of the oil and the crew will attack her; she would rather take the chance that he might still drown in the oil. (Chapter 4)

4. He is angry that Nailer has been injured and lost his filter mask, because this will impact Nailer’s ability to make money. (Chapter 5)

CHAPTERS 6-11

Reading Check

1. Tool (Chapter 7)

2. “Lucky Girl” (Chapter 10)

3. Patel Global Transit Company/one of the salvage companies (Chapter 11)

Short Answer

1. Nailer has to choose whether to act quickly to get inland and save himself or stay and try to figure out how to save his father who will not wake up. (Chapter 6)

2. Pima believes that Nailer should have let Richard die in the storm, because it is likely that eventually Richard will kill Nailer with one of his beatings, but Nailer is conflicted and wants to believe people who say that family is important. (Chapter 7)

3. To Nailer and Pima, the ship represents a way to pay off their debt, free themselves, and secure a stake that they can begin new lives with. (Chapter 8)

4. Despite the terrible conditions he has lived in, Nailer is willing to sacrifice a chance to escape in order to preserve a human life. (Chapter 9)

CHAPTERS 12-15

Reading Check

1. Slide/methamphetamine (Chapter 12)

2. The Cult of Life (Chapter 13)

3. Blue Eyes (Chapter 14)

Short Answer

1. Nita believes that being the owner of the ship will grant her safety and authority with Richard’s crew, but the reality is that as soon as they have her, they decide to kill her so that they can salvage the ship. (Chapter 12)

2. Richard begins to fear that Nita’s family will be too powerful for him to safely approach about a ransom—she is, paradoxically, too valuable to be successfully “scavenged.” (Chapter 13)

3. They praise Nailer for being as fast as his father, but he does not want to be like his father in any way. (Chapter 14)

4. Nailer was worried that Nita would not be fast enough and strong enough to jump onboard the train, but she jumps without hesitation and lands successfully. (Chapter 15)

CHAPTERS 16-19

Reading Check

1. Tar sands (Chapter 16)

2. Mississippi Metropolitan/MissMet (Chapter 17)

3. Knot and Vine (Chapter 18)

Short Answer

1. Pyce wants to capture Nita to use her as a bargaining chip against her father so that he can take control of their company. (Chapter 16)

2. Nita is bothered that Tool is still alive after his patron’s death because half-men are genetically engineered to be loyal to their patrons. In her eyes, it is right that they die when their patrons die. (Chapter 17)

3. Earlier in the day, before they see the Dauntless, Nailer sees his father and two half-men in town, and they are obviously tracking Nita. This seems like too much of a coincidence to Tool—he believes they must have arrived aboard the Dauntless. (Chapter 18)

4. From the way Nailer talks about Nita, Captain Candless realizes that Nailer has fallen in love with Nita, but he knows that Nita’s immensely wealthy and powerful family is unlikely to accept Nailer. (Chapter 19)

CHAPTERS 20-25

Reading Check

1. Augments (Chapter 20)

2. The Teeth/Bright Sands (Chapter 22)

3. Nita (Chapter 24)

Short Answer

1. After Nailer asks for a job on the Dauntless crew, Knot wants to assign him to work on cleaning and oiling the ship’s gears, but Nailer cannot read the important safety information he needs to do the job. (Chapter 20)

2. Nailer thinks that people overvalue blood family, because his own father and Nita’s uncle are a danger to them. To him, chosen family is more important, because Pima and Sadna would risk their own lives to protect him. (Chapter 21)

3. After Nailer lures his father to the ship’s gears, he is able to read the safety information and override the gear lock, setting the gears in motion to kill his father. (Chapter 23)

4. Sadna tells him that his worries about feeling nothing after killing his father is an indication that he is not like Richard, because Richard would never have these worries. She counsels him that in time, he will feel the impact of what he has done, because “Killing always costs” (317). (Chapter 25)