Parched

By Melanie Crowder

 

 

The novel Parched by Melanie Crowder, written in 2013, intertwines the lives of a boy, a girl, and her dogs in the epic drought survival game. Set in a realistic future in a once-civilized land stripped of its water and life, gangs reign and will not hesitate to kill anyone interfering or threatening their access to water. After her parents are murdered by these gangs, Sarel, a resourceful and loyal girl, must survive on her own with only her dogs and her family’s secret grotto. Musa is a boy who was enslaved by the gangs for his water sensing ability but finally escapes and runs for his life. The water vibrations draw an almost lifeless Musa to Sarel’s secret grotto, where the two work in harmony to avoid the gangs, protect themselves and the dogs, and most urgently, find water. The theme of this book is that you have to lean on one another for survival, because without Sarel, Musa, or the dogs, the others would die.

            The story is told from the point of Sarel, Musa, and Nandi, the leader of the dogs, but in third person. These three characters are brought together and must use each other for survival. Because it is mentioned in the book that the sea levels had risen and the climate had obviously changed since when the setting was first inhabited, I think the novel is set post-global warming. I think the intended audience is middle school age kids or young teens. The genre is realistic fiction because it sounds realistic but there are elements of fiction such as the futuristic setting and the way Musa can ‘hear’ water. The author tries to keep the reader interested by switching between characters and using sensory detail. The author’s style is to speak for the characters and use lots of metaphors and interesting comparisons while the voice is dramatic. The novel lacked emotion, so that was a downfall for me.

            This book didn’t really influence me too emotionally, since it was a little emotionally lacking, although it did make me thirsty. The author’s use of metaphors and comparisons for descriptions was amazing, but I think it needed a little more dialogue. The novel also shows how different life might be after global warming because the city/country where the story took place went from a fully functioning, modern town to an every-man-for-himself desert saga when the climate changed. Melanie Crowder’s descriptions and point of view of writing reminded me of Kathi Appelt, who wrote The Underneath.

            Parched had good imagery and a mildly interesting plot line, but it lacked emotion and attention-grabbing plot turns and was a little drawn-out.

 

Emily Fonken

11/05/13

RATING: ** 2/5