The Living by Matt de la Pena

Shy, a half Mexican, half American teen boy is working on a cruise ship this summer to earn money for his family.  It should be easy right?  Hand out towels; smile and make small talk; collect tips.  But on his first voyage he is unable to save a man who jumps overboard.  On his second voyage, someone is asking questions about the jumper, prying at Shy for answers.  All of this happens before earthquakes occur, and tsunamis hit the cruise ship, sinking it.  Finally, the cover makes sense, and the action starts! Eighty. Pages. In.  I’m afraid most of my students won’t give it as long as I did.  (My daughter bailed out at thirty pages or so.)  Once the action starts, it’s fast and furious.  Sinking ships, sharks, disease, conspiracy, and danger lead to the end, only to find out. . .there is a second book. Argh! The end paper says The Hunted coming fall of 2014, but I can find no reference to it on the web! Mr. de la Pena’s fans will have to wait.