The Water Wars by Cameron Stracher

This is a book I had heard about in the fall and I placed it on my wish list at Chapters. A few weeks ago, I was going through my wish list and decided I should probably order it. The Water Wars is about a time in North America after many wars have been fought over the ownership of water. Canada is painted in a pretty bad light, because we denied access to all of our clean water to other countries. I found this bit pretty interesting since I have a friend who has told me that the next war will be fought over water, and we have so much of it. This story is set in the Midwest where the struggle for water is a constant battle for families. The main character is Vera, she is a 15 year old girl who lives with her brother and her parents. One day, Vera meets a boy who seems to have a causal disregard for water, he seems to have an unlimited access to clean, fresh water with no explanation. As Vera and Kai grow closer, he still remains a mystery. Then one day, Kai goes missing and Vera and her brother realize he has been kidnapped. They start out on a journey to find Kai, but what they learn along the way makes them question everything they have ever been told about the world's lack of water. This book has many exciting parts. I liked the relationship between Vera and her brother, they are really close which was nice to read. The relationship between Vera and Kai was a bit stranger, he was so secretive and Vera seemed to just accept that. I really enjoyed the introduction to the way of life of the people who are struggling with limited access to water. Once Vera and her brother started on their adventure, things sped up really quickly. I like to read a bit more about the action, but this book seemed to skip right over the action. It seemed to me that there were too many characters introduced and too many situations that Vera faced that were easily resolved. So, while I enjoyed the read, I felt that I needed more details and description of what was happening. I can see kids who enjoy dystopian novels enjoying this story, as well as readers who enjoy a fast paced plot with lots of excitement. For me though, I just needed a bit more information.