The Water Wars by Cameron Stracher - Review

Water, water, everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink.

What would the Ancient Mariner have made of Stracher's future where we have run out of drinkable water? Where the ice caps have melted, counties dam their rivers and suck clouds from the sky, where the rich control what is left of the drinkable water, millions have already died, and countries are at war over water rights. It's a bleak, stark world, so real you can taste it, feel the ever-present threat of dehydration. Who would you blame? Who and what would you sacrifice? And how far would you go to protect your last shred of hope?

Meet Vera, a girl whose mother is sick, whose father can barely provide enough food and water for the family, who meets Kai, a boy who has water to spare, who travels with a guard, who talks of a secret untapped river that he will one day show her. Kai disappears as suddenly as he appeared in their lives, leaving behind his medicine and a dead bodyguard and Vera persuades her brother Will to help her try to find him - with no idea how dangerous or difficult this will be. And thus starts a non-stop action thrill ride as Vera and Will traverse the country, looking for clues, running into water pirates, the people's environmental liberation army, and the evil desalination corporation, Bluewater. All to save a boy who could be the world's last hope.

This is a compulsive, utterly gripping read with a strong environmental message that will appeal to Hunger Games, Maze Runner, and Life as We Knew It fans.