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    The Scavengers
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    The Scavengers
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    The Scavengers
    Audiobook7 hours

    The Scavengers

    Written by Michael Perry

    Narrated by Sandy Rustin

    4/5

    ()

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    About this audiobook

    When the world started to fall apart, the government gave everyone two choices: move into the Bubble Cities… or take their chances outside. Maggie's family chose to live in the world left behind. Maggie rechristens herself ‘Ford Falcon' — a name inspired by the beat-up car at a nearby junkyard. But when Ford comes home one day to discover her family missing, she must find the strength to rescue her loved ones with the help of some unlikely friends.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherW. F. Howes Ltd
    Release dateNov 5, 2015
    ISBN9781510013223
    Author

    Michael Perry

    Michael Perry is a humorist, radio host, songwriter, and the New York Times bestselling author of several nonfiction books, including Visiting Tom and Population: 485, as well as a novel, The Jesus Cow. He lives in northern Wisconsin with his family and can be found online at www.sneezingcow.com.

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    Reviews for The Scavengers

    4/5

    33 ratings11 reviews

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      Maggie, or Ford Falcon (as she calls herself), and her family survive by scavenging useful pieces from an old junk pile. With the help of neighbors, they are able to survive, despite threats from genetically modified bears and addicts known as GreyDevils. Ford's father becomes increasingly distant until Ford and her little brother are left alone. Ford's quest to find her parents expose her to greater threats, but her family is worth it.While I likely agree with the author's positions, his heavy handed descriptions of the corn monoculture, genetically modified foods, and large corporations was unappealing to me.This is a big adventure, with fights to the death with bears and GreyDevils. This review is for the Recorded Books audiobook, ISBN 9781490658742.
    • 4/5
      Kinda post-apocalyptic survival fic for kids. Good story, and a light touch with the scary/danger elements. Maggie/Ford is beyond plucky and all the way into independent -- smart, brave, full of hard work and no-nonsense practicality.
    • 4/5
      Many of the characters are real life people we have seen in his nonfiction books. I think that hindered the story and I found myself disappointed that they were not original characters. One of the characters has a weird way of speaking and this made me nervous. I didn't want to read this speech throughput the book. In the end though it was tolerable. I liked the book and as i think about it now, I like it even more. It is weird and weird events take place (a departure from post-apocalyptic young adult books). However, don't we want something different. Mr. Perry brings something new to the genre. his characters are memorable and the main character is loveable.
    • 4/5
      A very enjoyable post-apocalyptic story for MG readers. A cautionary tale of genetically modified agriculture run amok and it's consequences on a future world where people either live in protected bubbles (and are dependent on the modified UR corn), or they live in the wilds outside, fending for themselves in semi-primitive conditions. The main character, Ford Falcon, is a likable character, who resourcefully saves her family and figures out the mystery behind her parents' kidnapping by the government.
    • 3/5
      I'm torn on the Scavengers. It's not a bad book by any means. I think it does a really great job of bringing the post-apocalypse to middle grade readers without dumbing things down too much. There seemed to be real stakes at hand - and then in the end none of it really seemed to matter. In Ford's world there are those that live in the bubble cities and those that live out in the wastes surviving off what they can scavenge. (Hence the title.) She is one of the latter. When her family goes missing it's up to her to figure out what's going on. But where Ford goes through all this trouble to rescue them and sort out what's going out, the end resolution sees her family just brushing most of that off. They have their reasons. I don't want to spoil too much. But ultimately I wasn't that big of a fan of how things were sorted out. I'd recommend it for kids who like post apocalyptic stuff in general but it's a frustrating story. And it's not all that original. Bubble cities are getting old. And the name Ford Falcon feels entirely ripped from Ford Lincoln Mercury in the Postman. Also the anti-GMO stuff was super preachy. Stil, the book itself is really well written. The characters were pretty decent. And the narraration in the audio version is good. So it's a strong book. Just.. not that strong.
    • 4/5
      FYI - This review is spoiler free.The Scavengers is a very fun read. Ford Falcon lives with her family - mom who loves tea and books, dad who has a dream of giving his wife the lovely reading window she wants, and a brother who is both vexing and charming. In her tough-mindedness, Ford Falcon reminds me of Mattie Ross [True Grit]. That said, she has a wonderful love of poetry, cultivated by her more cultured mother. Ford Falcon works collaboratively with others, her family, her neighbors, to have good food to eat and a decent shelter (although she does prefer the car from which she took her name). There is a nice adventure story here, which I will let you discover on your own.This book uses Emily Dickinson, Spoonerisms, and other language twists in a way that adds both color and complexity to the story. As a lover of Spoonerisms myself, this was an unexpected and welcome surprise.We are figuring things out about this world along with the protagonist. Because she is a kid, if she doesn't know what something is or how it came to be, neither do we as an audience. I like that she doesn't have in-depth knowledge of how something came to be when she was just a young child. I also appreciate that the author didn't spend a lot of time on exposition that wouldn't have helped with moving the present story and plot forward. Both the age of the protagonist and the unanswered questions leave it open to a sequel, should the author be so inclined.For post-apocalyptic YA fiction, I think it hits the right balance between apocalypse (and fear) and hope. The world it describes feels plausible. The collaboration it describes between families and the small nearby town are the type of thing that gave me a sense of, if this were to happen, it could be OK. I have no problem with giving this to my own kid to read, unlike more brutal fiction like the Hunger Games.I enjoyed the narrator and felt she performed this book and its voices well. With the spoonerisms and the chicken, Hatchet, it can't have been easy.Note: I reviewed the audiobook format of this book, which I was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. These words are my own and are uninfluenced by how I received the book.
    • 4/5
      Thoughts:I wasn’t really sure what to expect when I got this book, but it was the first middle grade Post-Apocalyptic book I’ve seen. Really, though it wasn’t a true apocalyptic book, as it was a government choice that created the world rather than natural disasters. I thought the first half was interesting. It felt much more like little house on the prairie as it just described how they made it through everyday life. They obviously live up to the title of the book, as they scavenge from trash dumps that were left after people made the choice whether to go under the city bubbles or stay out. There is a slight Zombie style element, although these people are not reanimated dead but creatures called Grey Devils, which you learn about in the second half of the book. After the first half of the book where you learn about the world Maggie/Ford Falcon lives in, the action enters. There is a much more complicated element to her life and why her family made the choice to live Out Bubble. The details of the mystery and revelation of truth is complicated enough to keep my attention, but not so difficult that a kid would have trouble following the details. I would say the complexity would be similar to Nancy drew and Hardy boy books, the former of which I loved when I was a kid. The VoiceI thought Sandy Rustin did a great job reading for this book. She brought all the characters to life and I think added a level that made me enjoy the book more than I would if I had read it myself. Always the mark of a good audio-book.In the EndGood book for middle grade readers. It has a well developed world with a kid that has to stand up on their own two feet. Independent kids will enjoy it.originally posted on shannanwithana.com
    • 4/5
      Maggie likes living in the wild with her family, outside the bubble cities, until one day her parents disappear. This sort of adventure story does not often have a female protagonist, especially one without any romantic angle at all. I was worried for a while that it was just going to be a big allegory about the dangers of genetically modified food, but happily it avoided politics in favor of better world-building. All in all, I enjoyed it.
    • 5/5
      I absolutely LOVED this book on CD. In my mind I compared Monsanto with the Bubble Cities and U R Corn with GMO corn. The possible outcomes were numerous, but Perry really made it enjoyable and realistic. The main character and her strength to endure and step up to be a vital member of her family was awesome.
    • 4/5
      Maggie, or Ford Falcon (as she calls herself), and her family survive by scavenging useful pieces from an old junk pile. With the help of neighbors, they are able to survive, despite threats from genetically modified bears and addicts known as GreyDevils. Ford's father becomes increasingly distant until Ford and her little brother are left alone. Ford's quest to find her parents expose her to greater threats, but her family is worth it.While I likely agree with the author's positions, his heavy handed descriptions of the corn monoculture, genetically modified foods, and large corporations was unappealing to me.This is a big adventure, with fights to the death with bears and GreyDevils. This review is for the Recorded Books audiobook, ISBN 9781490658742.
    • 4/5
      Very imaginative and i loved the main character. It is a strange story, however, and the characters weren't as engaging as i would have liked.