In the end, Basil was the name that stuck.ĭad, I shout out into the garage, kitchen issues. Uncle Dill, Uncle Thyme, Uncle Chive, and during a period our parents wish we would forget, Uncle Cannabis. Uncle Basil’s actual name is Herb, but somewhere along the line my brother and I began referring to him as various herbs in our garden. Ever since, we’ve had nothing but plumbing and electrical problems.ĭad’s in our garage working on his car with Uncle Basil-who’s been living with us on and off since his almond farm up in Modesto failed. Then he put his money where his mouth was. Why pay through the nose for contractors when you can do it yourself? he always said.

Then she moves the handle to the off position, and says, Alyssa, go get your father.Įver since single-handedly remodeling our kitchen, Dad has had delusions of plumbing grandeur. Mom just stands there holding Kingston’s water bowl beneath the faucet, puzzling. Our dog, Kingston, raises his ears, but still keeps his distance from the sink, unsure if it might unexpectedly come back to life, but no such luck.

It coughs and wheezes like it’s gone asthmatic. The kitchen faucet makes the most bizarre sounds. And when her parents don’t return and her life-and the life of her brother-is threatened, Alyssa has to make impossible choices if she’s going to survive.

Suddenly, Alyssa’s quiet suburban street spirals into a warzone of desperation neighbors and families turned against each other on the hunt for water. Everyone’s lives have become an endless list of don’ts: don’t water the lawn, don’t fill up your pool, don’t take long showers. The drought-or the Tap-Out, as everyone calls it-has been going on for a while now. When the California drought escalates to catastrophic proportions, one teen is forced to make life and death decisions for her family in this harrowing story of survival from New York Times bestselling author Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman. “No one does doom like Neal Shusterman.” - Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “The Shustermans challenge readers.” - School Library Journal (starred review) “The palpable desperation that pervades the plot…feels true, giving it a chilling air of inevitability.” - Publishers Weekly (starred review) “The authors do not hold back.” - Booklist (starred review)

Dry jarrod shusterman