The Scavengers

Reviewed by: William Brown - Falmouth Memorial Library, Falmouth, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: February 6, 2015

Review

While postapocalyptic books have grown to be quite common of late, none of them have the approach of The Scavengers by Michael Perry. This dystopian novel includes a good dash of humor that sets it apart from many of its peers and makes for a truly enjoyable read. Where most of the world's inhabitants have retreated into the safety of bubble-domed cities and are fed by genetically modified UrCorn that can heal almost anything, our protaganist is a girl who lives Outside with her family, hidden from the unpredictable hordes of chemical-swilling GreyDevils and making a living by mining the salvagable goods out of an old garbage dump. Her name is taken from an old car they've dug up near her home: Ford Falcon. When trouble predictably rears it's head, Ford Falcon teams up with a gibberish-speaking neighbor, his crazy attack rooster, her disabled younger brother and others to stand up to the bad guys and rescue her family and serve the greater good. The scavengers succeeds admirably in crafting an adventure that could make a fine longer read-aloud while still being interesting and meaningful to the one doing the reader. A children's story with lots of detail and depth. Well suited for either junior or young adult collections.

Overall Book Score: very good