After the Water Wars split America into hostile territories, Cam, an orphan of "unknown origins" goes on the run, guided by memories of a blue door.

Cam has lived in a series of foster placements that have become more dangerous the older she gets. She escapes, somehow drawn by a vision of a blue door that brings her to the home of Jim. A former rocker and activist, Jim has nothing much left except for his cats, his memories of his dead wife, and — it turns out — three priceless vintage guitars.

When his greedy children come looking for the guitars, Jim and Cam become runaways together, making their way south and west with two donkeys and the cats. Cam doesn’t know where Jim is taking them, and their progress is always driven by the need for water, which brings them in contact with the desperate, dangerous and eccentric people who are all competing for the most valuable resource of all.

As haunting and propulsive as Cormac McCarthy's The Road and Cherie Dimaline's The Marrow Thieves, After the Water gives readers a bright new hero to root for in Cam, a young person who refuses to be defined as a commodity, choosing instead to fight her way to safety and self-knowledge.

Key Text Features

author’s note

chapters

dialogue

epigraph