Currents

This dramatic love story is set after the Great Flood when the country is divided between the safe, dry areas and those vulnerable to further flooding. The country’s population is similarly divided, with the Dry forming the wealthy elite, and the Wet the working class scratching a living in order to survive. A resistance movement arises from the Wet. Nina is a Dry, the daughter of the Governor. In the last flood, her school was inundated and her sister drowned, and she is now forced to go to another school in the Wet area, under a false name. There she meets Max, a Wet, and they become partners for a school project. At first suspicious, they soon become fascinated by each other’s worlds and start to become friends. Yet, their situation is complex--Max’s father died during the last flood, and the Governor played a questionable role in this, and Max’s brother is a member of the violent resistance movement. What will happen when Max finds out who Nina really is? The book rises to a climax, through alternating chapters, one from Max’s viewpoint and the next from Nina’s. A terrific debut from a promising writer.